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J 




By Evangelist GEO. F. HALL 

OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (disciples) 



-TENOGRArHlCREPORiS 

of actual sermon's 

preached at a 

'revival that revived" 



INTRODUCTION DY 
THE SECRETARY OF THE 
-HICAGO CHRISTL\N EN- 
DEAVOR UNION 




Do you cjire to know more of the faith in which 
TAMES A. GARFIELD lived and died? Is it worth 
looking into? If so read this book. 



CHICAGO TABERNACLE TALKS 



BY 



EVANGELIST GEO. F. HALL 



WITH INTRODUCTORY REMARKS FROM THE PEN OF 

MISS JESSIE WILLIAMS, SECRETARY CHICAGO 

CHRISTIAN ENDEAVOR UNION 






CHICAGO 
CHARLES H. KERR & COMPANY 
175 Monroe Street 
1895 







Copyright, 1895 
By CHAitLEs H. Kerr & Company 

All Rights Reserved 



Unity Library, No. 4f. Monthly, ^S-Oo a year. January , iSgS* 

Entend at the Postoffice, Chicago, as second-clasi mail ntattir. 



r 



••I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall 
judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; 

'Treach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke,exhort 
with all long-suffering and doctrine. 

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after 
their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 

"And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto 
fables. 

"But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, 
make full proof of thy ministry. " 

//. Ti7n. 4:1-5. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introductory 7 

SERMON I. 
"Was Jesus Divine?" 15 

SERMON II. 
"Prayer" 32 

SERMON III. 
"The Greatest Book in the World" 60 

SERMON IV. 
"Faith: What is it? How to get it, and What 

TO do with it" 87 

SERMON V. 
"Repentance" , 106 

SERMON VI. 
"Confession" 130 

SERMON VIL 
"Christian Baptism" 145 

SERMON VIII. 
"Excuses" 177 

SERMON IX. 
"Heaven: What is it? Where is it? Who will 
GO there? Shall we know each other 
there?" 206 

SERMON X. 
"The Great Commission" 228 



CONTENTS 
SERMON XI. P^aE 

"Where Shall I Spend Eternity?" 253 

SERMON XII. 
"Distinguishing Principles of the Christian 

Church" 273 

SERMON XIII. 
*'How TO Hold Out Faithful" 304 



INTRODUCTORY. 

The thirteen sermons comprising this work were 
delivered at the Christian Tabernacle, Chicago, by 
the distinguished evangelist, Rev. Geo. F. Hall,sten- 
ographically reported by Miss M. M. Gilmer, and re- 
vised by their author especially for this book. 

The revival in which these addresses were presented 
was one of the most successful series of special meet- 
ings ever held by any single church in the history of 
religious work in Chicago. One hundred and seventeen 
persons were added to the congregation under whose 
auspices the services were conducted, over $6,000 
raised for religious purposes, and the membership 
quickened in spiritual zeal as never before. And all 
this under peculiarly adverse circumstances, and 
among a comparatively poor people in this world's 
goods. 

As Mr. Hall has never conducted a revival out- 
side of his own church (the Christian, or Disciples', in 
which he has a world-wide reputation), he is not so 
generally known as Moody, Jones, Mills, Pentecost, 
and others whose lives have been devoted to union 
work. The following account of this particular re- 
vival, therefore, embracing as it does a brief biography 
of the great preacher, will doubtless prove exceedingly 
interesting to all readers of this book. It was writ- 

7 



8 INTRODUCTORY 

ten by Miss Jessie Williams, a prominent member of 
the West Side Church of Christ, and Secretary of the 
Chicago Endeavor Union. The article appeared in 
the Christian Standard^ of Cincinnati, Ohio, one 
of the leading periodicals of the Christian Church in 
America. 

THE HALL-HUTTO MEETING IN CHICAGO. 

In these closing years of the nineteenth century, a 
quickening impulse is discernible in every depart- 
ment of human activity, and this is displayed in the 
religious world especially by the growth of revivals. 
Years gone by it was the popular opinion that "times 
of refreshing from the presence of the Lord'^ came 
only in the winter season, but mankind has outgrown 
that idea. This is an era of revivals; an epoch of 
spiritual house-cleaning. Whether the wild flowers of 
spring are blooming on the lonely grave, or the birds 
of summer are singing a requiem over its peaceful 
occupant; whether the breeze is kissing the golden 
grain and the blushing fruit, or the wearied earth is 
sleeping under a coverlet of snow— whatever the 
season and environments, a revival will almost inva- 
riably succeed in "reviving," 

Within the last decade this happy result has often 
been secured even in Chicago, apparently one of the 
most difficult fields for gospel work — a city absorbed 
in getting and spending money, and characterized by 
a callous neglect of the demands of a spiritual life. 
Here are thousands of starving souls that refuse to 
partake of the bread of life; thousands who are sick 
but will not call the Great Physician; thousands who 
are homeless, though invited to mansions of splendor; 
and thousands of wearied, sick and homeless ones 
who seemingly are satisfied with their condition. 



INTRODUCTORY 9 

The difficulty attending revival work in Chicago 
may be judged by the fact that when the famous 
sectarian evangelist, B. Fay Mills, held a meeting 
on the West Side last autumn, participated in by 
about twenty congregations, after his most tireless 
labors for many weeks, seconded by the earnest efforts 
of perhaps eight thousand Christians, it is stated that 
only about two thousand were "converted,"and I have 
since heard it said (with how much authority I know 
not) that less than five hundred of that number have 
united with any church. Notwithstanding these 
meager visible results, Chicago was better for Mr. Mills 
having been here. It was a revival that "revived." 

The meetings of which I make especial mention 
were held at the West Side Church of Christ, Chicago, 
by Evangelist Geo. F. Hall, assisted by his musical 
director, Prof. E. M. Hutto. Bro, J, W. Allen, 
widely and favorably known in our brotherhood, has 
been the pastor of this congregation for ten years, 
and the hearts of pastor and people are knit with the 
golden cords of an unchanging love^ 

Daring almost the entire seven weeks of the revival 
the weather was very unpropitious. It is needless to 
remind the reader that during the month of May the 
weather clerk issued his daily bulletin, announcing not 
that it "may" rain, but that it might, could, would and 
should rain ceaselessly, relentlessly and untiringly. 
It is impossible to estimate the injurious effect of the 
somber clouds, the constant gloom and heavy rains. 
Notwithstanding this great obstacle and the fact that 
in the midst of the meeting the congregation vacated 
the old building and moved to a hall six blocks dis- 
tant, in spite of these obstacles, and others neither 
few nor small, God's blessing was upon the meeting, 
and one hundred and seventeen were added to the 
church. It was a revival that "revived." 



lO INTRODUCTORY 

In view of the fact that Brother Hall is one of the 
successful evangelists of the Christian Church, the 
readers of the "Standard" will be interested in the fol- 
lowing sketch of his life: 

Geo. F. Hall, eldest son of John and Mary Hall, 
was born near Clarksville, la., September 23, 1864. 
His father, a native of Kentucky, and a farmer by 
occupation, removed to McLean county, Illinois, in 
his childhood. In 1862 he removed to Butler county, 
la., where he married Miss Mary J. Barnard. Both 
were ardent Disciples, and reared their children in 
"the nurture and admonition of the Lord." At the age 
of seventeen, Brother Hall entered Drake University, 
and three years later preached his first sermon. His 
early inclinations were toward journalism, which 
profession he followed for some time with success. 
However, when bereaved by the death of his mother, 
in 1884, he decided to give himself to the ministry. 
His first charge was at Manhattan, Kan., where he 
became pastor of the Christian church in April, 1886. 
During the same year he was m.arried to Miss Laura 
Woods, of that city, a talented lady whose beautiful 
face and lovely character have won for her a host of 
warm personal friends, while her talent as a singer 
and accompanist are an invaluable aid to Brother 
Hall in his work. They have two bright boys, Paul 
and Barton. Their home is one of happiness and 
mutual helpfulness. 

After one and one-half years of successful work at 
Manhattan, Brother Hall accepted a call to the church 
at Lincoln, the same State, and later took charge of 
the church at Emporia for two and one-half years. 
He became well and favorably known in that cultured 
city, preaching to large audiences and receiving four 
hundred and forty members into the church while its 
pastor. He had flattering invitations to other cities, 



INTRODUCTORY 1 1 

but having put off sixty calls for revival meetings dur- 
ing the last year of his pastorate, decided to devote 
himself to the work of an evangelist. He engaged 
Prof, Ed- M, Hutto as soloist and musical director, 
and during the nine months in which he has labored 
as an evangelist over seven hundred have been added 
to the churches under his labors. 

In his meetings Brother Hall introduces modern 
methods effectively, and especially impresses upon 
his hearers the pov/er of personal work. He urges 
the introduction of business methods into religious 
enterprises, and the pulling aside of the curtains which 
have thrown over the church the darkness of the 
mediaeval ages. His plea is to modernize, not the 
truth itself, but ways and means of making the truth 
effective. He is a hard v/orker. In addition to his 
almost ceaseless speaking seven nights in the week he 
does much literary w^ork. He has already copyrighted 
several bocks, and has two more almost ready for the 
printer. 

Combining a fine physique with perfect ease in the 
pulpit, Brother Hall impresses a stranger favorably. 
Ashe has a clear, rich voice, and is exceedingly fond of 
music, he not infrequently sings an appropriate stanza 
in the midst of a discourse, or joins with Professor 
Hutto in a duet during the opening service. His suc- 
cess lies in his unwavering faith in God; the intense 
earnestness which makes every utterance burn into 
the soul of the hearer; the concentrated enthusiasm 
which expects mighty triumphs for Christ; and the 
broad knowledge of human nature which uses the 
Saviour*s love as an open sesame to the heart. He 
is a fearless speaker, and has plenty of ammunition 
to fire at the citadels of boastful vanity where agnos- 
ticism, infidelity and skepticism mingle in unholy rev- 
elry. He constantly appeals to the Scriptures for 



12 INTRODUCTORY 

proof of every position taken on the vital questions 
he discusses, and his sermons are marvels of sim- 
plicity, directness and conclusiveness. Old Disciples 
say that he is "as clear as a bell on our plea," When 
thrilled by the grandeur of his theme, his impassioned 
eloquence carries the audience spellbound to the 
loftiest heights. Truly, it may be said of him that 
he is 

* 'Dowered with the hate of hate, the scorn of scorn, 
The love of love." 

In alluding to his success as an evangelist he says 
that it is not his superior eloquence that wins men 
and women to Christ, but the truth. Certain it is 
that hiding behind the cross he points up to the- 
crovv^n, and pleads with all mankind to confess that 
name which is above every other name; that name 
which, if not confessed here, m.ust be confessed here- 
after, when every knee shall bow and every tongue 
confess him Lord of all. 

The last day of the meeting was the best of alL 
The "clear shining after rain" drew large audiences 
to the Tabernacle. The morning audience numbered 
700, and the evening congregation 1,000, while in 
the afternoon 6oolistened to his lecture for men only. 
The farewell service closed with eight confessions, a 
num.ber of baptisms, and in the midst of the deepest 
interest. 

At the close of the morning service Brother Hall 
raised $4,700 for the new church, and the encourag- 
ing announcement was made that work on the edifice 
v/ill commence at once. The site of the new building 
is on Jackson Boulevard, about three blocks from the 
old church, and the structure when completed will be 
one of the finest on the West Side. At present the 
congregation worships in the "Christian Tabernacle," 
a large hall at No. 928 W. Madison Street, the prin- 



INTRODUCTORY 1 3 

cipal business thoroughfare of the West Side, and a 
location most advantageous for attracting strangers. 
During the World's Fair v/e hope to welcome many 
visiting Disciples into our new home, and with them 
unite in worshiping the Bountiful Giver of every good 
and perfect gift. 

Jessie Williams. 

Wherever Mr. Hall goes he stirs up the churches, 
attracts outsiders, and makes his influence felt 
for good. He is a firm believer in printer's ink, 
and always advertises his meetings thoroughly. 
The newspapers have been very kind to him, and 
he always appreciates their service. 

At the close of his Chicago meetings, Mr. Hall 
and his singer went to Toronto, where they attracted 
much attention, and accomplished a great work for 
the church in that most beautiful and intellectual city 
of Canada. Returning to the States they continued 
their work for some time, until growing tired of being 
so much separated from their families, they decided 
to discontinue their field work for awhile at least. So 
at present writing Professor Hutto is teaching in 
Kansas, while Mr. Hall is pastor of the First 
Christian Church, at Decatur, 111., one of the oldest 
and strongest congregations among his people. Since 
accepting this work a year ago, the church has 
increased over 300 in membership and has erected a 
magnificent tabernacle with a seating capacity of 
nearly 2,000. Here the evangelist-pastor preaches 
to vast audiences, and finds ample scope for the 
exercise of his splendid ability as an organizer as 



14 INTRODUCTORY 

well as a pulpiteer. Decatur is an attractive little 
city of some 25,000 inhabitants, and it is probable 
that its enterprising and appreciative citizens will be 
slow to release one from their midst who is capable 
of doing so much for God and humanity. 



/ 



WAS JESUS DIVINE? 

Matt. 22:42. "What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he?'* 

A few evenings ago, you remember, we circulated 
some "Believers' Cards" containing this statement: 
**I believe with all my heart that Jesus Christ is the 
Son of God, and am willing to accept Him as my per- 
sonal Saviour/' Among the cards returned we found 
one with a signature, and then a remark, as follows: 
"I cannot say that I do believe this; and still I can- 
not say that I do not." If that individual is here to- 
night, and any others like him, it is my purpose to 
help them to reach a decision on this great question 
if I can. 

I believe there are in the world honest doubters, 
and we ought to treat them respectfully if we can. 
There are men and women who are honest doubters 
about the Scriptures, about the divinity of Christ, 
and about Christianity. It is no disgrace to have 
honest doubts, but it is a disgrace to keep them. It 
is no disgrace to have bed-bugs, if they get into your 
house without your knowledge or consent, but it is a 
disgrace to keep them w^hen there are so many easy 
ways to get rid of them. If doubts have gotten into 
your mind it is your business to examine the evidences 
of Christianity, the evidences of the Divinity of Jesus 
Christ, the evidences of the inspiration of the Scrip- 
tures. I want to say right here if skeptics would hon- 
estly, fairly and unprejudicedly examine the Scriptures 
their honest doubts would soon take to themselves 
wings and fly away. I want to say further, that if 

15 



l6 WAS JESUS DIVINE? 

Jesus Christ was not divine, then the sooner we close 
this great Tabernacle and quit this meeting the bet- 
ter; if Jesus Christ is not divine, the sooner we begin 
to ''eat, drink and be merry'^ the better, "for to-mor- 
row we die'' and that is the end of it; if Jesus Christ 
is not divine, then the sooner the church spires are 
torn down and the church buildings converted into 
saloons the better. It is a shame to have a moun- 
tain of superstitions and lies piled upon the world's 
conscience, as the gospel is being piled upon the 
world to-day, if there is no truth in it. Let us find 
a consistent principle somewhere and govern ourselves 
accordingly. 

The Apostle Peter, one of the greatest preachers 
in history, said on one occasion, "There is no other 
name under heaven given among men whereby we 
must be saved," than the name of Jesus Christ. Now, 
if Jesus Christ is not divine, of course we can't be 
saved. If Jesus Christ is not the Son of the Living 
God and all He claimed to be, then we are lost and 
that is all there is to it. Zoroaster, Confucius and 
Buddha cannot save us. All the philosophies, rules 
of ethics and speculations of the scholarly world can- 
not save us. Peter was right when he said that there 
was no name whereby we could have eternal life, ex- 
cept the name of Jesus, the Son of Mary. If the Son 
of Mary was not the only begotten Son of God, then, 
absolutely, there is no eternal life. Hence our sub- 
ject this evening, "Was Jesus Divine?" is one of 
tremendous importance. We should examine it 
reverently, thoughtfully and as thoroughly as the hour 
will allow. 

I would appeal first to the Scriptures; second to 
History; and third to intelligent conscience. And I 
think if we can get a decision from these three sources 
we ought to be well satisfied. 



WAS JESUS DIVINE? I7 

Some object to our appealing to the Bible, and 
say, "Go on and appeal to history and to intelligent 
conscience; but when you come to appealing to ihe 
Bible I cannot accept the argument, for I don't be- 
lieve in the inspiration of the Bible. So I v/uuld 
rather you would not cite the Scriptures as authority 
or proof." I want to say that Mr. Renan, one of 
the most gifted skeptics in the world, and the author 
of one of the ablest works ever written on the life of 
Christ, makes 1781 quotations from Matthew, Mark 
and Luke alone, without once questioning their ver- 
acity. I want to say further, that Dr. Simon Green- 
leaf, the greatest writer on law and evidence in 
either continent, — than whom no greater perhaps has 
ever written,— felt it not beneath him to WTite a 
masterly and unanswerable vvork, entitled "An Ex- 
amination of the Four Evangelists by the Rules of 
Evidence Administered in the Courts of Justice, with 
an Account of the Trial of Jesus." And Wm. E. 
Gladstone, England's greatest statesman, thought it 
not condescending, but rather a glorious privilege to 
WTite that celebrated book entitled "The Impregnable 
Rock of Holy Scripture." This leader among his fel- 
low men sat down thoughtfully, trustfully and cheer- 
fully to the important work of investigating and de- 
fending the Holy Scriptures. So if you can't keep 
company with these, the m.ost gifted minds, you might 
as well waive the whole question and go away to 
your idols of unbelief. The most brilliant intellects 
and the purest hearts in the world have accepted 
the Bible as divine; hence we appeal to the Scrip- 
tures with all confidence. 

I shall not attempt to present all the Bible has to 
say on the divinity of Christ. It would take too long. 
A hundred sermons v^^ould not more than suffice to 
present all the evidence from the ()6 books of the 



l8 WAS JESUS DIVINE? 

Bible on this subject. I might, of course, go back 
to the very first book, and show how God made that 
promise to Eve, "The heel of thy seed shall bruise 
the serpent's head," which is generally admitted to 
be a Messianic prophecy. I might quote the promise 
to Abraham: "In thee and tliy seed shall all of the 
nations of the earth be blessed/' 1 might quote the 
repetition of this promise to Isaac and Jacob. I 
might turn over to Luke's genealogical table, and 
show that Jesus Christ descended from Abraham. I 
might quote the prophecies of David, Isaiah, Ezekiel, 
Jeremiah, Daniel, and others. Some of them wrote 
more than 700 years before the Christian era. All 
of these inspired writers foretold the coming of Jesus. 
Their records declare the coming of the Eternal One. 
I might turn over to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, 
and show how all these prophecies were fulfilled; 
how Jesus was born; how He rose to influence among 
the children of men; how He went about Galilee v/ith 
His Disciples, teaching, preaching and healing; how 
He was betrayed and crucified; how He died and was 
buried; how He came forth from the tomb and after 
forty days ascended to heaven. I might dwell at 
length on all these interesting evidences. But I will 
simply confine myself to one book, the book of John, 
"the disciple whom Jesus loved." From this one book 
I want to select the testimony of some of the greatest 
characters of all history. I have very much enjoyed 
studying the book of John recently, especially with 
reference to this subject. It abounds in irrefutable 
testimonies. Let us take them up one by one, and' 
consider them carefully. They all attest the divinity 
of Christ. 

Testimony number one: 

John 1:1. —"In the beginning was the Word, and the 
Word was v^ita God, and the Word was God/^ All 



WAS JESUS DIVINE? I9 

scholars admit that John referred here to the Lord 
Jesus Christ. And this beloved apostle, who spent 
over sixty years in the service of the Nazarene; who 
received the wonderful vision recorded in Revelation, 
when he was an outcast on the Island of Patmos; 
who wrote the three Epistles that bear his name; 
John, the holy patriarch of the ancient church, says: 
He was divine, He was God. 

Testimony number two: 

John 1:29. — "The next day John seeth Jesus com- 
ing unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, 
which taketh away the sin of the world!*' This is the 
testimony of John the Baptist, a man raised up of 
God to perform mighty work; one of the most im- 
portant characters^ and one of the greatest preachers 
in history (not the greatest preacher; Jesus was the 
greatest preacher, and the sermon on the mount the 
greatest sermon ever preached — and Paul was a 
greater preacher than John). He was a remarkable 
man who could go out into the wilderness and at the 
river side draw hundreds and thousands to hear him 
preach. There was such an outpouring to hear him 
that one of the sacred writers says: "Then went out 
to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the regions 
round about Jordan.*' A man clothed in a peculiar 
manner, who ate locusts and wild honey, and lived 
— no one knew where. Yet this man moved the 
multitudes, and his testimony is worthy of our atten- 
tion. And he said: "Behold the Lamb of God, 
which taketh away the sin of the world!" thus affirm- 
ing that Jesus was divine. 

Testimony number three: 

John 1:41. — "He first findeth his own brother 
Simon, and saith unto him. We have found the 
Messiah, which is, being interpreted, the Christ." 
This is the testimony of Andrew, As soon as he 



20 WAS Jesus divine? 

found Jesus, so soon he believed him to be the prom- 
ised One to Israel, And as soon as he had found 
Jesus he wanted others to know him, and he ran im- 
mediately to find his brother Simon, and said, "Come, 
we have found the Messiah. '^ Andrew believed that 
Jesus was divine. 

Testimony number four: 

John 1:45. — "Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith 
unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the 
law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, 
the son of Joseph/' Here we have the testimony of 
Philip— -"We have found Jesus of Nazareth, of whom 
Moses in the law and the prophets did write." His 
testimony is to this effect, that Jesus, the son of 
Joseph, was the one that God promised through Moses 
and through Isaiah, David, and all the Prophets; 
the one who was to come to save His people from 
their sins, and bring peace and joy upon the earth, 
Philip believed that Jesus, the son of Joseph, was the 
divine Son of God. 

Testimony number five: 

John 1:49. — "Nathanael answered and saith unto 
him. Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the 
King of Israel.'' As soon as Philip found Jesus and 
believed on him he wanted some one else to believe — 
and herein is the great secret of enlarging the King- 
dom; when we have found Christ, tell some one else! 
Philip ran to Nathanael, his friend, and said, "I have 
found the Messiah! I have found the Son of the' 
Eternal!" "Who is it?" inquired Nathanael. "Jesus, 
the son of Joseph," answered Philip. "Can there 
any good thing come out of Nazareth.?" said Nathan- 
ael. Philip did not stop to argue^ did not try to 
convert him; but said, ^-Come and see." He wanted 
to bring Nathanael to the Saviour; that would be 
enough. Oh yes! if we can get this poor, sinful, 



WAS JESUS DIVINE? 21 

wicked world to take but one glance at Jesus, that 
will be enough. But the eyes of the world are blind 
in sin, and it is hard to get men to look and live. 
Nathanael was skeptical at first; but he came and 
looked, and immediately believed that Jesus was 
divine, and said: "Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; 
thou art the King of Israel.'' He was a good man 
and became a noted servant of the Lord. 

Testimony number six: 

Turn over to the 3rd Chapter of John. — Oh, won- 
derful book is this on the subject of the divinity of 
Christ [ 

John 3:2. — "The same came to Jesus by night, 
and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a 
teacher come from God: For no man can do these 
miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.'* 
So said Nicodemus, who was not a common citizen, 
but one of the most prominent men of his age, a 
member of that august body knov/n as the Sanhedrim. 
He desired to become a disciple of Jesus, not openly, 
but secretly. He came to Jesus and said, "We know 
that thou art a teacher come from God.'' Why.? 
"Because no man can do these miracles that thou 
doest, except God be with him." To do these works 
requires more than humanity; it requires divinity. 
Thus this great and learned man believed that Jesus 
was divine. 

Testimony number seven: 

John 4:29. — "Come, see a man, which told me all 
things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ.?" So 
said the poor woman at the well in Samaria. The 
disciples had gone into the city to buy food, leaving 
their Master sitting there on the curb-stone. He was 
weary from much walking, and thought to rest until 
his followers returned. While he sat there a poor 
woman came from the field to draw water, and he de- 



22 WAS JESUS DIVINE? 

livered to her that wonderful sermon on the Water 
of Life. The woman listened spellbound. She be- 
lieved a prophet had come from God; she believed 
He was the Messiah. She hastened to the city and 
told her acquaintances all He had said to her, and all 
He had done, and asked, "Is not this the Christ?" 
She believed that this wonderful man was the Re- 
deemer, the Deliverer promised long centuries before 
to Israel. 

Testimony number eight: 

John 4:42. — "And said unto the woman. Now we 
believe, not because of thy saying, for we have heard 
Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the 
Christ, the Saviour of the world." So testified the 
citizens of Sychar. "We believe not because of thy 
saying — " Oh no, she was a poor sinful woman. She 
had^had five husbands, and was not the wife of the 
man she was then living with; she was a woman of 
bad character. So they said, "We believe, not be- 
cause of thy saying; but having heard Him ourselves 
we know that He is indeed the Christ, the Saviour 
of the world." After seeing and hearing for them- 
selves, they had not a doubt but that Jesus was divine. 
The Saviour remained at this place two days, and 
had a great and successful revival. It is probable 
that hundreds, and may be thousands, accepted the 
overtures of His mercy. 

Testimony number nine. 

John 6:67-69. — "Then Jesus said unto the twelve, 
Will ye also go away?" This was after he had de- 
livered that powerful sermon, in which he had told 
them that they must eat of His flesh and drink of His 
blood, if they would have eternal life; and the people 
had said, "This is a hard saying." They were not 
willing to make the sacrifices true Christian service 
demanded. And so the multitudes turned away. He 



WAS JESUS DIVINE? ^^ 

listened to their footfalls as they went back to their 
. sins, went back to the things of this life, and then 
turning to His apostles He said, "Will ye also go 
away?" Hear their noble response: "Then Simon 
Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? 
thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe 
and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of 
the Living God." What Christ, Peter? Why, ^ka^ 
Christ — the Christ promised in the prophecies of the 
sacred books. The Christ for whom the Jewish peo- 
ple had been looking many years. Was He a mere 
man, Peter? No. "The Son of the living God!" Peter 
believed with all his heart that Jesus was divine. 
Go on now. Testimony number ten: 
John 7:46. — "The officers answered, Never man 
spake like this man." You know the Jews despised 
Him, Why? Because He told them of their faults. 
He simply drove their sins right home to the heart. 
He punctured their consciences and they did not like 
it. People don't like to have their consciences punc- 
tured any better to-day then they did eighteen 
hundred years ago. So the Pharisees, you remember, 
and the chief priests, desired to kill Jesus, and sent 
men to arrest Him and bring Him to judgment. 
They went and heard Him speaking to the people. 
But instead of taking Him, like dutiful officers, they 
listened spellbound to his gracious words. With 
wonder and amazement they slunk back into the 
city. And when they came back, the priests and 
Pharisees said, "Where is he, why did you not bring 
him?" And they answered, "Oh, never man spake 
like this man!" Very good evidence that they be- 
lieved him to be m-ore than a man. They were as- 
sured that Jesus was the divine Son of the living 
God. 
Go on noWe Testimony number elevens 



24 WAS JESUS DIVINE? 

John 9:30-33.* — "The man answered and said unto 
them, Why herein is a marvelous thing, that ye know 
not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine 
eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners; 
but if any man be a worshiper of God, and doeth 
his will, him he heareth. Since the world began was 
it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one 
that was born blind. If this man were not of God, 
he could do nothing." So said the blind man who 
had been healed of his infirmity by the Saviour. You 
remember that Jesus stooped down and spat upon the 
ground and made clay and anointed his eyes and 
said, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam." And he went 
and washed and his sight came to him. He had 
never seen the light of day; he was born blind. The 
Jews would not believe that he had been born blind, 
until his parents said, "We know that this is our son 
and that he was born blind.'' Then they called the 
blind man to them again, and said, "Give God the 
glory, for this man is a sinner." He said, "I don't 
know whether he is a sinner or not; but one thing I 
do know, that once I was blind and now I see." But 
they said,"This man is a sinner,he is a wicked man." 
Then the man that was blind argued with them, and 
finally closed the discussion by declaring, "If this man 
were not of God he could do nothing," showing that 
he believed him to be divine. And later on, he said 
to Jesus, "Lord, I believe." 

Go on a little further. Testimony number twelve: 
Jesus testifies of himself — John 9:35-37. — "Jesus 
heard that they had cast him out; and when he found 
him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son 
of God? He answered and said. Who is he, Lord, that 
I might believe? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast 
both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee " 
Jesus himself said, "I am the Son of God." Jesus is 



WAS JESUS DIVINE? 25 

the greatest character of all history, and certainly his 
evidence should be weighed with seme corisideration. 
A being of such marvelous power! His name for 
eighteen hundred years has swayed the hearts of 
millions. His impress is upon all civilization. To 
Him crowned heads and peasants alike do obeisance. 
What did this w^onderful personage say concerning 
himself? ^^I am divine.''^ 

Go on. Testimony number thirteen: 
John 12:3.— "Then took Mary a pound of ointment 
of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of 
Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house 
was tilled with the odour of the ointment. '^ Here is 
the story of one of the m.cst beautiful deeds the sun 
ever looked down upon. This believing and trusting 
woman came in as the Master was reclining at the 
table and poured out the precious ointment on His feet. 
The odour of the ointm.ent filled the room, and the 
fragrance of the deed has gone to the ends of the 
earth. As she stooped the v^aves of her long hair fell 
upon his feet, and with tender affection she v/iped 
them with it. It was an act testifying very pow^erfully 
to the divinity of him to Vvdiom she rendered this 
precious service. 

Go on. Testimony number fourteen: 
John 12:12-13. — "On the next day much people 
that were come to the feast, when they heard that 
Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of 
palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried 
"Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh 
in the name of the Lord." It was just a few days 
before the crucifixion vvhen He rode into the City on 
the borrowed colt. It v/as expected that Jesus would 
proclaim himiSelf the temporal King of Israel at the 
approaching Passover. The people came out in great 
numbers and witnessed his triumphal march into the 



26 WAS JESUS DIVINE? 

City of Jerusalem. There was great enthusiasm. 
Some took off their garments and threw them at his 
feet, and others broke off palm leaves and waved them 
in the air, and they cried, "Hosanna! Blessed is he 
that Cometh in the name — '^ Of whom? A man.? 
No. "Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh /;^ tJie 
name of the Lord.'^'^ Such was the cestimpny of the 
multitude that cried out shortly afterwards, "Away 
with him," not understanding that his kingdom was 
spiritual. 

Go on. Testimony number fifteen: 

John 12:27-30. — "Now is my soul troubled; and 
what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour; 
but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, 
glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from 
heaven, saying, I have glorified it, and will glorify it 
again. The people therefore that stood by, and heard 
it, said that it thundered; others said, An angel spake 
to him.'' But what was it — thunder? No. Was 
it an angel speaking to him? No. It was God's tes- 
timony that Jesus was divine. That is what it was. 
God himself testified to the divinity of the Son of 
Mary. 

Go on. Take another testimony — number sixteen: 

John 19:4. — "Pilate therefore went forth again, 
and saith unto them. Behold, I bring him forth to 
you, that ye may know I find no fault in him." It 
was on the morning of the Saviour's trial and cruci- 
fixion. The multitude had assembled and were cry- 
ing, "Away wth him! Crucify him, crucify him! 
Nail him to the tree! We have no king but Caesar, 
— Away with him!" Then Pilate went back into his 
room and wrote a title to be put on the cross. And 
the Roman soldiers proceeded to scourge their pris- 
oner. They laid on the lash thirty and nine times, 
till his flesh hung in shreds and the blood flowed in 



WAS JESUS DIVINE? 27 

pools at his feet. At last Pilate brought him forth and 
said, "Behold your King. Take him, and crucify him, 
for 1 find no fatilt in him. He is innocent!" He re- 
garded him as a most remarkable character. And it 
appears from the earnest efforts he put forth to ex- 
tricate him from the intrigues of the Jews that he re- 
garded him as more than human. 

Go on. Testimony number seventeen: 
John 20:28-29. — "And Thomas answered and said 
unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus said unto 
him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast 
believed; blessed are thay that have not seen, and yet 
have believed.'' You know that after the Saviour 
had risen from the grave he met ten of the Apostles 
in Jerusalem, but Thomas was absent, and when in- 
formed of the fact he would not believe that the 
Saviour had risen. He said, ^^Except I shall see in 
his hands the print of the nails, and thrust my hand 
into his side, I will not believe.'' But when Jesus 
came and the doubting apostle saw him, he said, "My 
Lord and my God!" He believed that Jesus was the 
Son of God, and that he was indeed divine. Never 
before in the world's history had one risen from the 
grave by his own power — never since; but Jesus by 
his own strength had arisen from the grave the con- 
queror of the unseen world. The only possible 
consistent explanation of the fact is that he was 
divine. 

Thus we have in the Book of John these seventeen 
different testimonies, and every one agrees. "In the 
mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be 
established," and here we have seventeen witnesses, 
representing some of the greatest personages in 
heaven and in earth, and all say that the Son of 
Mary was more than human. And most of them, if 
not all, believe him to be emphatically the divine 
Son of God. 



28 WAS JESUS DIVINE? 

Now "What think ye of Christ? Whose Son was 
he?" Was he not divine? I might close the book of 
John and make just a few quotations from other books 
of the Bible, I might quote the testimony of Judas, 
for instance, when he brought the thirty pieces of 
silver, for which he had betrayed his Lord, and threw 
them down at the feet of the chief priests and elders, 
saying, "I have sinned in that I have betrayed the in- 
nocent blood." I might quote the language of the 
Centurion at the foot of the cross, when the veil of 
the temple was rent in twain, and the earth quaked, 
and the graves were opened, and the dead came 
forth, and the noonday darkness was quickly banished 
by the bursting forth of the brilliant sun. Smiting 
his breast, this Roman officer exclaimed, "Truly this 
man was the Son of God!" But why go further? 
The whole Bible echoes and re-echoes with invincible 
proofs concerning the divinity of Jesus. And, oh, 
how glad I am that this is the case! For, as Pro- 
fessor Swing truly says, "If Christ be not divine,every 
impulse of the Christian world falls to a lower octave, 
and light and love and hope alike decline." 

Now a few words concerning the testimony of his- 
tory. Very little is necessary along this line of 
thought, for the world is full of indubitable evidence 
which only makes the declarations of the Bible appear 
stronger and brighter with each passing generation. 
A careful, candid study of the history of Christianity 
for the past eighteen hundred years is enough to 
convince any sane man, who is honest, that Jesus was 
divine. If he was not divine, one of the grandest 
miracles under the shining sun is the marvelous 
growth of his religion. An humble peasant himself, 
with but a few humble men for his followers, he was 
maligned, spat upon, and traduced. How that little 
company could spring up and grow till it became the 



WAS JESUS DIVINE? 29 

most powerful force in the world in the higher devel- 
opment of the human family, spreading its religion 
over the greater part of the globe, moving empires 
and kingdoms as no other influence has ever moved 
them, without the divinity of the leader, is beyond 
human ken. 

The only way to account for the marvelous growth 
of the Christian religion from the following of a dozen 
individuals to a present adherency of over 400,000,- 
000; the only way to account for its 60,000 martyrs; 
the only way to account for its transforming power for 
good over the sinful hearts of men, is by the fact 
that Jesus, the leader and founder of this religion, was 
divine. No other explanation will bear the searching 
light of common sense. 

Zoroaster, the great Persian religious teacher, who 
it is supposed lived about twelve hundred years be- 
fore Christ, gave his nation a fine code of morals. 
But what has Zoroastrianism ever done for the world? 
Throughout all Persia, the land of the great teacher, 
there is not a railroad. You cannot find a telephone 
there, or a telegraph; no marks of advanced civiliza- 
tion. The people of Persia are to-day very little, if 
any, in advance of the Persians of three thousand 
years ago. Why? Because the religion of Zoroaster 
lacked the essential element of a higer development 
—divinity. Zoroaster was a mere man. He had more 
than ten centuries the start of Jesus, but has long been 
distanced in the race. 

Confucius, who it is supposed Hved contemporary 
with Belshazzar, five hundred years before Christ, 
gave to poor China a narrow, bigoted, selfish religion, 
and the result is seen to-day in a nation noted for its 
lack of progress. No railroads, steam-boats, electric 
cars, and great steam presses in China, but on the 
other hand mountains of inexcusable ignorance, con- 



30 WAS JESUS DIVINE? 

temptible conservatism, and unbearable superstition. 
Confucius was a mere man. 

Look over the world to-day; look at Mahomet, who 
secured millions of followers by false promises never 
fulfilled. He has nearly 200,000,000 followers to-day. 
But what has Mahometism done for the world? 
Arabia and Turkey are still in the darkness of super- 
stition and the throes of unspeakable degradation. 
Mahomet was a mere man. 

Look at the glittering cohorts of Alexander, Caesar 
and Cyrus; but where are they to-day? Gone, for- 
ever gone. No more will the shout of their triumphs 
be heard, nor the tramp of their magnificent armies. 
They were mere men. But Jesus, who came from 
despised Nazareth, and fought not save with weapons 
of love, gave the world faith and hope, and to-day 
tens of thousands of church spires with ringing bells 
testify that He was divine. 

"What think ye of Christ, whose son was he?" Let 
an intelligent conscience answer it, or let a learned 
Court answer it in the light of reason, in the light of 
testimony, in the light of Christianity. Jesus Christ 
was divine, or else He is the greatest impostor the 
world ever knew. For he claimed to be divine, and 
the angels of heaven testified that he was when they 
sang, "Peace on earth and good will toward men." 
Did they speak falsely? The greatest authorities of 
heaven and earth have testified that the humble 
Nazarene was the Son of God, was divine. If he is 
not divine, they are all mistaken, and there is noth- 
ing in Christianity, nothing in the religion of Jesus 
but error, nothing but false hopes, nothing but bitter 
disappointment and hopeless remorse. But at this 
the intelligent conscience revolts, so I declare to you 
this evening that the only logical conclusion, the only 
consistent answer to this question is, that Christ was 



WAS JESUS DIVINE? 3 1 

divine, that he was the only begotten Son of God, 
that he was the fulfillment of prophecy, — the Won- 
derful, the Counsellor, the Prince of Peace, and the 
Saviour of mankind! Therefore the only right way 
to act is to accept him, love him, serve him. I leave 
the matter with you. You have been long hesitating, 
perhaps. But do not wait longer. 

"Why do you wait, my brother? 
Why do you tarry so long? 
Your Saviour is waiting to give you 
A place in his glorified throng. '* 

If you have been putting this matter off, I beg of 
you to put it oH no longer; decide now, either for or 
against Christ. If, after all this evidence, you still 
say, "I don't believe," the day will come, dear friend, 
after my voice is hushed, and all who sit here are 
laid away in the cold grave — the day will come, yon- 
der Judgment Day, when you will say, upon bended 
knees,"! do believe.'* If you don't voluntarily confess 
Him /lere, you will kave to confess Him ^/lere. So 
I beg of you take time by the forelock, acknowledge 
the divinity of Jesus, and be forever blessed. Stand 
up before the world and acknowledge His supremacy! 
Swing into line with the greatest intelligences of earth 
and heaven! Show by an acceptance of Christianity 
that you are the friend of truth and progress! Will 
you do it.^ God help you. 



PRAYER. 

Mark 14:38. * 'Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation. 
The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak." 

These are the words of our Saviour spoken on the 
evening of his betrayal, and should be regarded with 
the greatest deference, because the circumstances 
under which they were delivered were among the 
saddest of his earth-life — just the evening before his 
crucifixion, just an hour or two before the hypocrit- 
ical kiss of Judas, when he was compelled to surrender 
to the authorities from the Temple. 

"Watch and pray." — I want to talk about prayer, 
a subject which I fear is not very well understood by 
the majority of Christians. Although there is very 
much said about it, although there is very much writ- 
ten about it, and although we occasionally sing "sweet 
hour of prayer," yet I feel that Christian people gen- 
erally do not appreciate its wonderful significance as 
the power that moves the Lord. 

Let us first discuss the question, What is Prayer.? 
We will then observe that all mighty men have been 
men of prayer. Thirdly, we will talk about, How 
to pray, when to pray, and where to pray. Fourth — 
Some of the results of prayer. I trust a talk along 
this line will be helpful to every person present. 

Mr. Moody says, "Those whose lives have made the 
deepest impression on this sin-cursed earth have 
been men and women of prayer." I am sure he is 
correct in this assertion. It is undoubtedly true that 
those who have made the deepest impression for 

32 



PRAYER 



33 



truth, goodness, and uprightness, have .been persons 
"who waited much on the Lord.'^ Prayer must be 
something of very great importance, for the Word of 
God is full of the subject. And a study of the lives 
of truly great men reveals the fact that they were 
praying men. A life of prayer has enabled many a 
noble character to leave "foot-prints on the sands of 
time'' for good, and cause men to rise up and call 
them blessed. 

What then is Prayer.^ A very simple question; one 
that it seems I need scarcely take time to discuss. 
Yet these simple questions are often more difficult 
and important than they at first appear. This is a 
practical question, and deserves a careful answer. 

Is it delivering a grand and beautiful address to the 
Lord, flourishing a splendid array of rhetoric and 
eloquence.? It would seem that was prayer, judging 
froni the way many Christians do it. And not a few 
ministers seem to endeavor to speak to the Lord in 
a way to excite the greatest admiration of the listen- 
ers. Have you not frequently heard, as you were 
leaving the church, some one say, "Was not that a 
beautiful prayer Doctor So-and-So made.?" or, 
"Wasn't that an eloquent prayer?" So the world has 
the impression that prayer is delivering a fine speech 
to the Lord. But it is not that. The Lord does not 
care so much for our grammar and rhetoric, nor the 
particular attitude of the body; but the spirit in which 
we approach him. 

But what is prayer.? The poet says: 

, "Prayer is the soul's sincere desire, 
Unuttered or expressed, 
The motion of a hidden fire 
That trembles in the breast." 

This is very beautiful, but to my mind, Mr. Mont- 
gomerv has not given us in these lines a complete 



34 



PRAYER 



definition of prayer. It is more than that. It is 
possible to have a "sincere desire," and not have that 
desire gratified; but the Lord gratifies the sincere 
desire of the praying heart. It is possible to love, 
without our love being returned (a great many young 
men here have doubtless had that experience) ! It is 
possible for me to ask favors, and not have them 
granted. But the Lord loves, and the Lord grants 
the favors we ask of him— possibly not that partic- 
ular one, but if not that something infinitely better. 
I have a definition of my own which I think is more 
satisfactory. It is in very few words, but it covers 
the whole ground. Hear it: Prayer is sweet com- 
munion WITH God. Now when we desire a favor, we 
ask God for it and he grants us that favor. We talk 
the matter all over with our Heavenly Father, and 
make our requests known to Him v/ith child-like con- 
fidence. And we are not disappointed. We find 
that God is the soul's complement. He recognizes 
our sincere desires and beneficently responds with 
the gifts we need. He hears our petition gladly. He 
enjoys our conversation. He enjoys our presence. 
He enjoys talking with us, and to us, and thus we 
have communion with our Maker; that is prayer. 

I want to cite a few Scriptures on the subject: 
First, Mark 11:24.— "What things soever ye desire, 
when ye pray believe that ye receive them, and ye 
shall have them." Now note: The Lord does not 
say, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray 
beUeve, and may -be you will get them; possibly I 
will grant your request, if 1 happen to feel like it, ox 
if the notion strikes me I will give you the blessing 
desired.'' He does not say, "Ask, and nine times out 
of ten you will get what you want." No! The Loid 
is not so indefinite in his promises as man. But he 
that asks, believing, receives. "And ye shall have 



PRAYER 35 

/7," says the Word. No equivocation, no doubt; but 
YE SHALL HAVE IT. When you commune with the 
Lord, don't be afraid to ask Him for what you desire 
with full assurance. I would to God this spirit might 
take possession of all, all Christian men and women; 
that Christ's disciples everywhere might be stirred 
up to ask, in faith, great things of God. If so, such a 
wave of blessing would sweep over the church as has 
never yet been seen. Remember the promise, "Ye 
shall have.'' Spurgeon once said that "prayers are 
heard in heaven very much in proportion to our faith. 
Little faith will get very great mercies, but great 
faith still greater." 

Second, John 16:23,24. — "And in that day ye shall 
ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, what- 
soever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will 
give it you. Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my 
name; ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be 
full.'' Now how is that? Why,simply this: "Ask the 
Father in my name^ and he will grant your request." 
This is one of the conditions of acceptable prayer. We 
are told to ask in the name of Jesus. Never ask in 
your own name; never ask in any man's name; never 
ask in an angel's name; never ask in a departed 
saint's name — ^as the Catholics do — for it will not 
avail. Never ask Jesus personally, nor the Holy Spirit 
personally. But ask God in the name of Christ. 

I have sometimes heard people address their prayers 
to Jesus, — "O, Lord Jesus, do so-and-so, or give us 
so-and-so." But we should not do this. Jesus did not 
tell us to pray to Him, but to the Father. People 
sometimes address their petitions to the Holy Spirit, 
— "O, Holy Spirit, come down, etc." But we should 
never pray to the Holy Spirit. The Word of Truth 
does not so instruct us. But we should always pray to 
God in the name of Jesus. I must tell you the Mas- 



36 PRAYER 

ter does not want us to ignore his directions. No 
amount of piety will make up for wanton disobedi- 
ence. If we really desire to please Christ, and the 
Holy Spirit, we should not address them personally, 
but address the Father, the great Head of the God- 
head. And if we pray in the name of Jesus, we are 
promised an answer to our prayers. In the name of 
Christ, Oh, get "in the NameP' Be a believing, 
patient, obedient servant of Jesus. That is what 
being "in the name'' means. Those who do not be- 
lieve in Christ should not pray; they are not "in the 
name.'' Nor should those who, although they are 
not unbelievers, have not kept the commandments, 
and who, perhaps, think them non-essential, expect 
God to hear their prayers. You may be living up to 
your "honest convictions," but you are not "in the 
name of Christ" until you believe, and obey His laws; 
and God has not promised to hear anybody out of 
the name of His only Begotten Son. 

Turning to Matt. 28:19, we learn what Christ 
meant by getting into His name. "Go ye therefore 
and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name oi 
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." 
And in the last chapter of the Book of Luke, we 
have further information on this point: "And that 
repentance and remission of sins should be preached 
IN His NAME among all nations, beginning at Jeru- 
salem." Turning to the 2nd chapter of the Book of 
Acts we read how the people repented and were 
baptized on the Day of Pentecost, thus getting into 
the navie of Christ, and securing all the rights and 
privileges of Christian citizenship. And so if we want 
our prayers answered, we should lose no time in be- 
coming penitent, baptized believers in the name of 
Christ, and then, whatsoever we ask the Father, He 
will give us. 



PRAYER 37 

Third, — Matthew, 6th Chapter. — Luke informs 
us that the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Lord, 
teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." 
And He said, "And when thou prayest, thou shalt 
not be as the hypocrites are; for they love to pray 
standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the 
streets, that they may be seen of men. But thou 
when thou prayest enter into thy closet, and when 
thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is 
in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall 
reward thee openly." And then the Saviour gave them 
an example of acceptable prayer, — this prayer is 
commonly spoken of as "The Lord's Prayer," but it 
is, more properly speaking, The Disciple' s Prayer. 
"After this manner therefore," said he, "pray ye: 
''Our Father which art in heavefi, hallowed be thy name. 
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in 
heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive 
us our debts, as we forgive our debtors- And lead us not 
into temptatiofi, but deliver us from evil. For thi7ie is the 
kingdom y and the power , and the glory, forever, A7nen, " 

Ah! That is the way to pray. Commence by 
glorifying the name of the Lord; extol Him above all 
creation, both in heaven and in earth. Secondly: — 
Talk about the Lord's business — "Thy kindgom 
come." Then we come down to poor, weak self — 
"Give us bread;" "Forgive us;"and "Lead us not into 
temptation." Then we break forth once more in 
praise to God — "Thine is the kingdom, and the power, 
and the glory, forever!" But how often we pray for 
self first, self second, and self all the way through! 
"Lord bless ine^ remember me, give to m^," from 
beginning to end. Now we should learn better from 
this blessed example which the Lord has given us. I 
love to hear some of our old preachers pray; some 
of those old veterans of the Cross who have been 



38 



PRAYER 



preaching for half a cenutry or more — How they do 
glorify the name of the Living God! Their com- 
munion is one great, long period of praise. I think 
the Lord likes such prayers. We should be careful 
not to make self too obtrusive in our petitions. I 
would to God, every disciple of Christ the world over 
might repeat this prayer every day, if for no other 
purpose than to catch the spirit of true, acceptable 
communion with God. 

Fourth: — I Thessalonians, 5:17, 18.— "Pray with- 
out ceasing, and in everything give thanks; for this is 
the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." The 
great Apostle Paul says:— "Pray without ceasing." 
Yet Professor Atwater tells about a man over in 
Pennsylvania, a deacon in one of our churches, who 
does not believe in prayer; he does not think it 
necessary. He will pass the sacred emblems, he 
will take up the collection, and pose as a Christian; 
yet he does not believe in prayer. But that man 
will never get to heaven, I fear. I am glad there are 
not many like him among us. The Christian Church 
has been accused of not believing in prayer; but the 
accusation is without foundation. I think that every 
one of our more than six thousand preachers will 
say that it is utterly impossible for a Christian man 
to be saved without living a hfe of prayer. "Pray 
WITHOUT CEASING, "says Paul, and I think he means it. 
God means it, and Jesus Christ means it, and if you 
are not living a life of prayer, my brother, the best 
thing for you to do is to go into your closet, and 
kneeling before God, beg him to forgive you for past 
neglect, and promise Him, then and there, that you 
will live closer to Him in the future. 

Once again: -I John 3:21, 22.— "Beloved, if our 
heart condemn us not, then have we confidence to- 
ward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, 



3 



PRAYER 39 

because we keep His commandments, and do those 
things that are pleasing in His sight.'* Notice that 
precious promise: " Whatsoever we ask we receive,'*'* 
Why? Because we have kept his commandments, and 
because we are in his confidence. The great God 
has pledged himself to hear the prayers of those who 
comply with his very simple conditions. So I want 
every member, as we enter this large tabernacle, with 
greater facilities for work, to take hold of this power- 
ful lever that moves the all-powerful Fatherland bear 
down upon it with all the strength of your nature. 
God promises to answer the prayers of every one who 
will live right, and do right, and ask right. Many 
ask and receive not because, as James says, they ask 
"amiss." (James 4:3.) If we expect God to hear 
us we should ask earnestly, unselfishly, expectantly, 
and submissively. And we must ask "in the name," 
with all that this implies. The Bible has many great 
lessons on prayer. But I will not consume time at 
present in quoting further. 

I want to say now that all truly great and mighty 
characters in history have been men and women of 
prayer — all who have glorified the name of Christ; 
all who have helped to usher in the reign of righteous- 
ness; all who have done something worthy the name 
of humanity, have been men and women of prayer. 
The men and women who are moving the world for 
good to-day are praying men and women; it has ever 
been so, and ever will be so. I said all truly great 
men, are men of prayer. There is a difference be- 
tween true greatness and mere notoriety, between 
greatness in God's eyes and greatness in man's eyes. 
With God greatness means goodness. Napoleon was 
great in man's eyes, but I fear not in God's eyes. 
With God the humblest man on earth is great if he 
is good. 



40 PRAYER 

Glance through the Bible and you will observe that 
heaven always blessed the men of prayer. As a rule 
those who did most prayed most. 

Abel was a man of prayer. 

And Abraham was a man who delighted in prayer. 
Everywhere he went he erected an altar. When he 
would come to a new place he would erect an altar 
and offer sacrifices; that was the way he prayed to 
God, — kill a young lamb, or a young bullock, and 
burn it before the Lord. And Abraham was so good 
and faithful that he was called the "friend of God," 

We find that Jacob was a man of prayer. Coming 
back from the home of Laban — where he had lived 
twenty years — to see his old father, and to make 
peace with his brother Esau, he had some very 
troublesome compunctions of conscience. I imagine 
he was a little afraid to meet Esau. And then he 
had had a little quarrel with his father-in-law. Take 
it all in all he realized the need of prayer. So he 
wrestled all night long at Peniel. He prayed with 
all his heart; he poured out his soul unto God; he 
wrestled with the angel, and said, "I will not let thee 
go until thou bless me; I will hold to you — I will not 
release my grip — I will die in my tracks if need be 
— I WILL NOT LET THEE Go!" And SO we should keep 
right on praying, — begging, entreating, imploring, 
until we get what we ask for. Jacob received the 
blessing, and his name was called Israel, "For as a 
prince," said the angel, "hast thoa power with God 
and with men, and hast prevailed." 

Hannah, one of the sweetest characters in the Bible, 
was mighty in prayer. She prayed for a son, and 
God answered her by giving her Samuel, one of the 
greatest of Old Testament worthies. 

We find Elijah a living reality of the efficacy of 
prayer. At one time in answer to his prayers, the 



PRAYER 41 

rain was withheld for three years; and then, in an- 
swer to prayer, the rain descended. I like to read of 
the time Elijah prayed so earnestly on Mount Carmel. 
You remember the record says, "He cast himself down 
upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, 
and said to his servant, Go up now and look toward 
the sea." And the servant went, and ere long came 
back and said, "I don't see any signs of rain." And 
he told him to go again. So he went, and came back 
and said, "1 don't see anything yet; the sky is as 
clear as crystal," "Go again, seven times," said Elijah. 
If Elijah had been like a great many modern Chris- 
tians, he might have said, "It is no use; I might as 
well give it up; the Lord is not going to answer me." 
But he kept on praying until his servant had gone 
seven times. When he returned the seventh time he 
said, "Behold, there riseth a little cloud out of the 
sea, like a man's hand." Ah! That was sign enough. 
And Elijah said, "Go now and tell the King to pre- 
pare his chariot, and drive rapidly for home, for we 
are going to have a great rain." And pretty soon the 
thunder and lightnings began to play, and the rain 
descended in torrents, all in answer to praying 
Elijah. 

Elisha was a man mighty in prayer, and thus he 
was able to raise the Shunamite's son, multiply the 
widow's oil, heal Naaman the leper, and do other 
remarkable things in the name of Jehovah. 

And Manasseh, although he had been a very wicked 
king, and was carried away captive into Babylon, in 
answer to prayer was restored again to his throne in 
Jerusalem, where he ceased not to glorify God as long 
as he lived. 

Job, the man whose every blessing w^as turned 
against him, and again whose every curse was turned 
to blessing, was a man of prayer. 



42 PRAYER 

And "good old Daniel" was a man mighty in E.rayer. 
Three times every day he prayed, with his face turned 
towards Jerusalem. Thus was he saved from the 
lion's mouth, and from the fury of Babylon's king. 
In answer to prayer he was able to interpret the se- 
crets of the great Nebuchadnezzar, and to read the 
handwriting on the wall when wicked Belshazzar was 
overthrown. 

And coming on down to the New Testament, we 
find that all the men who moved God, in every in- 
stance, were men of prayer. Paul and Silas prayed 
at midnight in the Philippian jail. They were cast 
into prison for preaching Jesus, and their feet -were 
fast in the stocks. But as they prayed and sang 
praises to God, the foundations of the prison were 
shaken, and the door was opened, and their bands 
were loosed. Paul was evidently one of the most 
prayerful men the world ever saw, and hence one of 
the greatest. 

Stephen prayed while the Jews were stoning him, 
and the Lord took his spirit to heaven. 

Peter was delivered from prison in answer to 
prayer. All the apostles and early disciples were 
mighty in prayer. Did you ever notice that they 
had been praying ten days before they were endowed 
with power from On High on the ever memorable 
Day of Pentecost? 

Jesus was a man of prayer. All through His life 
we find Him praying. Although He was the divine 
Son of God, the only begotten of the Father, He felt 
it necessary again and again to pray. What a strik- 
ing example to His followers! When He had a great 
work to do, He would commence that work with 
prayer. Sometimes after teaching all day, he would 
go up in the mountains at night to commune with the 
Father. If we have been working all day we often feel 



PRAYER 43 

too tired to pray; but Oar Master seemed to feel that 
that was the time He needed most to pray. Before 
his greatest miraclcjs, he would lift his eyes heaven- 
ward, and commuL'e a few moments with God. 

When He fed the Five Thousand He first prayed. 
When He raised Lazarus from the grave, He prayed. 
When He raised the daughter of Jairus, He prayed. 
When He ate with the two disciples at Emmaus.Luke 
says, "He took bread, and blessed it, and break, and 
gave to them. And their eyes wete opened, and they 
knew Him." He prayed on the cross — "Father, for- 
give them, they know not what they do.'' And have 
you ever noticed the faci that He prayed at His 
baptism? Listen: "Now when all the people were 
baptized, it came to pass that Jesus also being baptized, 
and prayirtg, the heaven was opened, etc.'' (Luke 
3:21, 22.) It seems to me that of all the apprc priate 
times in the world to pray, there are none more ap- 
propriate than at the hour of baptism, and the hour 
of death. And Jesus has set the example. He prayed 
on the Mount of Transfiguration, and he prayed in 
the Garden of Gethsemane, Indeed his whole earth 
life was a life of prayer, his last words being,"Father, 
into thy hands I commend my spirit." He lived and 
diei communing with God. So ought we to do, for 
there is wonderful power and joy in prayer. 

Glance at secular hii^tory and note the names of 
uninspired men who have moved the world for good. 
They have uniformly been men of prayer. I will 
mention only a fev^: General Gordon, one of the 
most celebrated of England's warrior chieftains, was 
a praying man. It is said that every morning, for 
half an hour, there might be seen a white handker- 
chief on the ground just outside his tent. And while 
that handkerchief was there, nobody was allowed to 
interrupt him, no matter hovv' important his business. 



44 PRAYER 

Though a messenger from the Queen herself desired 
an immediate interview he must wait, for the General 
was at pra37er. 

General Havelock also was a man of prayer. It is 
said of him that if the hour for marching was set at 
six, he would arise at four, that he might have good 
time to commune with God before the arduous duties 
of the day. 

Benjamin Franklin believed in prayer. The infidels 
sometimes claim him, but he it was who introduced the 
motion in the Colonial Congress that the deliberations 
of that important assembly should be opened with 
prayer. For days they had been toiling and toiling 
apparently to little purpose, trying to frame a code 
of laws for the thirteen Colonies. Finally, this great 
statesm.an arose and moved that they should petition 
God for His Blessing and assistance. And from that 
day to this, I believe, the deliberations of Congress 
have never been opened without prayer. 

General Washington, — 

*'The first, the last, the best, 
The Cincinnatus of the West," 

was not only an immersed believer in Christ, but he 
was an earnest believer in prayer. The winter that 
the Revolutionary army spent at Valley Forge was 
long and cold. The finances of the country were in a 
deplorable condition, and the prospects of American 
freedom were very gloomy indeed. The soldiers could 
be tracked by the blood from their bare and almost 
frozen feet. They were poorly fed, poorly clothed 
and poorly equipped every way for the great contest 
in which they were engaged. So one night, it is stated, 
Washington went out to a neighboring woodland, 
away from the camp, and kneeling down beneath a 
great tree, poured out his soul before God for the 
cause so near his patriotic heart. Who knows but 



PRAYER 45 

what that prayer had really more to do in throwing 
off the Mother- Yoke, than all the great speeches of 
Patrick Henry, or even the bayonets of our fore- 
fathers? The nation whose God is the Lord always 
wins in time, though the odds seem all against her at 
first. 

It is related of Abraham Lincoln, with how much 
accuracy I cannot vouch, that before the great battle 
of luka, he was seen to take his Bible and go into a 
room by himself. When asked what he had been do- 
ing, he said, "I have been reading a chapter in the 
Bible and praying for our army." And when, after 
awhile, good news came, — the news of victory, — 
"Honest Abe" took his Bible and went into his room 
again, and when questioned once more as to what he 
had been doing, replied, "I was reading a chapter in 
the Bible and thanking God for our victory. Prayer 
and thanksgiving should always go together." 
Whether this incident is authoritative or not, it con- 
tains a very wholesome lesson for Christians. Lin- 
coln was a believer in God, but not a member of any 
church. His father and mother, I am told, were 
members of the Christian Church. Every follower 
of Jesus should not only believe in prayer, but also 
in praise. He should be prompt to ask God for what 
we need, and just as prompt to thank him for the 
blessing when it comes. Prayer and praise should 
ever go hand in hand. 

John Knox, who had all Scotland under his influ- 
ence, was a man mighty in prayer One writer de- 
clares that "his prayers terrified tyrants." But I tell 
you there are a great many prayers offered to-day 
that don't scare anybody. The trouble lies in the 
fact that too many professing Christians are inconsis- 
tent. Men pray, "O Lord, remove the saloon curse," 
and they go right on and drop a ballot in favor of 



46 PRAYER 

license. "O, grant that righteousness and purity may 
reign from pole to pole/' and they bring home various 
publications for their children to read that smell so 
much of the Bottomless Pit that the angels in heaven 
must blush and turn away for shame. If you want 
to terrify the devil, you must be mighty in prayer, — 
much in communion with God. Knox spent much 
time on his knees, and thus gained great strength 
from Heaven. 

John Wesley, who turned over ten thousand peo- 
ple to Christ, was a praying man. He bathed all his 
efforts in trustful communion with God. Luther, 
Baxter, Whitefield, Edwards, Campbell, Stone, and 
indeed all the great reformers of history were men of 
prayer. Those who have moved the world for good, 
those who have Hfted humanity Godward, and ex- 
tended the Kingdom of Heaven, have been, without 
an exception, men and women who have counseled 
much with God. 

In answer to the practical questions, How to pray? 
When to pray? and, Where to pray? I would say: 
— pray meaningly ; pray everywhere ; pray always. 
But now to be more specific I would add, talk to God 
in your prayers just as you would talk to a kind, lov- 
ing, earthly parent. When your little child comes 
running and says, "Papa, I want so-and-so,'^ he 
does not act as though he were afraid of you, does 
he? Why, no! But he affectionately and confidently 
says: "Won't you buy me this or that?" or "Won't 
you do me this little favor?'' With earnest eyes 
he looks up into your face, fully expecting his requests 
to be granted. So ought we to look up into the face 
of our always kind and loving Heavenly Father, and 
make our wants known. He will hear us gladly and 
bless us abundantly. Oh, for more of this childlike 
confidence among Christians everywhere! "Except 



PRAYER 47 

ye be converted and become as little children, ye 
shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." So 
pray earnestly and expectantly. Look into the 
dear Father's face lovingly and with full assurance. 
Childlike sincerity will bring rich reward. 

We should pray always; not simply during the re- 
vival meeting, or on Sunday only. But we should 
live in the spirit of prayer. When Paul said, "Pray 
without ceasing," he did not mean that we should 
stay on our knees twenty-four hours in the day; of 
course there is such a thing as overdoing the matter 
— such a thing as allowing mere formality to take 
the place of genuine prayerfulness. Paul's idea Vv^as, 
live in the spirit of prayer — live in constant touch 
with God, so that at any time we can send to him the 
electrifying message of faith and hope and love, and 
the response Vi^ill come much quicker than telegraphic 
wires could bring it. Living thus, we can send a mes- 
sage to heaven in a second, and receive an answer 
as quickly. '^Father, help me!" and the help comes. 
Oh, live in the spirit of prayer! Whenever we take 
a railroad journey, we never know but the train w^ill 
fly the track. How important then to appeal silently 
to God as we take our seat — "Father, bless me on 
this journey. If it be Thy will, grant that this train 
may safely reach its destination." We don't need to 
make a big stir, and push two or three persons out of 
the v/ay to make room for us to get down on our 
knees and show all the people just how pious we are, 
but just send up the message to God, silently, gently, 
and trustfully; just open the heart to him in secret, 
and the Lord will hear and reward openly. There 
is too much of the old Pharisaical love of display 
among Christ' s followers sometim.es, I fear. Preachers 
have been known to enter the pulpit, kneel down and 
pray awhile in secret before the audience, when they 



4^ PRAYER 

have just come through a solitary lane two miles 
long. But perhaps it was well for them to let the 
people see them pray, for otherwise they might never 
have suspected them to be men of prayer! At Tor- 
onto, Canada, I saw a man enter the room at one of 
my services and bow down in his pew for a little 
season of silent prayer before he could enjoy the ser- 
mon. But in our after-meeting the same person 
showed his inconsistency by repeating Mark 16: i6 
as follows: "He that believeth shall be saved; he that 
believeth not shall be damned," thus omitting the im- 
portant phrase, "and be baptized." We should be 
consistent as well as pious if we would have God give 
attention to our petitions. And no display is 
necessary, but just a loving, confiding, hopeful yearn- 
ing of the heart. 

We ought always to pray mecmingly. We 
should avoid an excessive use of words and trite 
phrases in our prayers. It becomes monotonous 
to say the least. I have heard individuals make 
about the same prayer in about the same words, 
using the same old threadbare expressions, perhaps 
a hundred times. I don't think the Lord wants us to 
fall into ruts. It is not necessary to always begin in 
the same way, always end the same way, always say 
"Amen" at the close of our petitions. That becomes 
formalistic. I am glad the Endeavor Society is set- 
ting the world a splendid example in the matter of 
short, pointed prayers. God looks at the heart, not 
at the language. He does not care how our desires 
ar^ expressed. With him broken speech is just as 
acceptable as fine rhetoric and grammar, if the heart 
is right. "But don't you think people ought always 
to stand when praying?" inquires one; or, "Don't 
you think they ought always to kneel .^" No. The 
particular attitude of the body is wholly immaterial, 



PRAYER 



49 



only in public meetings we should all observe the same 
custom, whatever it is, for the sake of decency and 
order. But God has nowhere made it obligatory 
to stand or kneel, to sit or lie down. I think you 
can lay your head on your pillow and ask God to 
bless you, and He will hear and answer your prayer 
just as quickly as if you were kneeling or standing. 
But when worshiping in a public assembly, always 
do what the leader requests. If he asks you to stand, 
why, for goodness sake,i'/'^;^<^, unless you have a lame 
back, or rheumatic limb, and can't stand. If he says 
kneel, why, kneel\ don't be afraid that you will soil 
your clothes. If he says, "Shall we bow our heads?" 
don't sit back straight and stiff, as though you feared 
some one would think you a Christian ! Whatever 
we do undertake, let us do it decently and orderly, as 
becometh the children of the Father. 

We should always pray briefly in public. There 
should be no long public praye7's\ I do not make a 
single exception, at a funeral, at a Thanksgiving ser- 
vice, or at regular meetings. It is almost an inexcus- 
able breach of duty for a person to make long-winded 
prayers in public now-a-days, and I am glad of it. 
Of all the good things the Christian Endeavorers 
have done (they have done many good things), per- 
haps there is nothing better than their inauguration 
of "sentence prayers.'' I would to God that all our 
public prayers were brief. 

We had an old brother in Iowa who would pray 
thirty minutes by the watch. The boys dreaded to 
see him arise to pray. 

Once I was invited to take part in a Union Thanks- 
giving service in Kansas. One of the ministers present 
was to read the President's Proclamation, another the 
Scriptural lesson, another was to offer the invocation, 
etc. The Presbyterian pastc^ was selected to make, 



50 PRAYER 

what his people called "The Long Prayer/' and he 
did it well. I think he prayed about fifteen minutes. 
Before he got through the people were tired and be- 
gan to be quite uneasy. Who will argue that such 
prayers are edifying? It looks too much like making 
an address to the Lord for the people to admire. 
Ask for what is wanted and then quit without any 
"vain repetitions." The longest prayer in the Bible 
can be read in about four minutes, the prayer of Sol- 
omon at the dedication of the Temple. (2 Chron- 
icles, Chap. VI.j The Lord's Prayer, recorded in the 
17th Chapter of John, is about the same length. If 
we want to make long prayers, let us go up into the 
mountain as our Saviour did, or into some secret 
chamber and pray all night. Long prayers are all 
right in their place; but their place is never in public. 

The public prayers that have moved God the 
quickest have been short prayers. The publican 
smote upon his breast, and said, **God be merciful 
to me a sinner." There was no "red tape" about that. 
He poured out his whole heart in one sentence. 

But how about the Pharisee who stood on the street 
corner and made a long, beautiful prayer.** Was his 
finely delivered petition answered .'* 

When Peter was sinking in the water, he cried, 
"Lord save me: I perish !" He did not make a long 
prayer; there was no time for that; he would have 
drowned. But he asked for just what he wanted in 
the simplest and most earnest manner, and God gave 
him an acceptable answer. 

The Syrophenician made her petition in very few 
words, but the Lord did what she desired, — she re- 
ceived her daughter whole. 

All through the Old Testament and the New we find 
that many of the grandest prayers are those expressed 
in the fewest words. Mr. Moody very suggestively 



PRAYER 51 

observes that "those who pray most in public, pray 
least in secret/^ So be careful how you exhibit your- 
self in the prayer meeting! 

We should take much time communing with God 
alone. If we bathe our hearts often in secret prayer, 
our faces will shine with the peace of God. 

Speaking of long prayers, I am reminded of an in- 
cident which occurred in the South. A gentleman was 
traveling on horseback. Night came on, and he was 
far away from any town or public place where he 
could get entertainment. So he stopped at a little 
cabin, where an old colored man with his little family 
resided, and begged a night's lodging. The head of 
the family said kindly, "We will entertain you the 
best we can in our frugal way/' After the travelei's 
horse had been cared for, and supper was ready, the 
host said, "Stranger, can you read?'' The gentleman 
replied that he could. "Well,'' said the old colored 
man, "please read a chapter in the Bible for us, and 
I will lead in prayer; I am not a very good reader, 
but I am pow'ful in prayer." The gentleman read a 
chapter, and then they all knelt, and the old colored 
man began his petition. He commenced away back 
at the time when the Lord made man and placed him 
in the Garden of Eden. He told all about Adam and 
Eve, and how the serpent deceived them ; then about 
Cain and Abel, and how Cain killed Abel; then he 
came on down to Methuselah, who lived 969 years; 
then he mentioned Enoch, who "was not, because God 
took him;" then he came down to Noah, and his sons 
— ^Shem,Ham and Japheth ; he spoke of the flood, and 
how Noah was 120 years preaching and building the 
ark; and how the animals finally went in,twoby two, 
and how the rain descended forty days and forty 
nights, and the waters were over the whole earth; how 
at last Noah sent out a dove, and how it came back 



52 PRAYER 

bearing a green twig; how after awhile they went out 
of the ark, and how Noah got drunk; he touched 
upon the fact that the people built a great tower, de- 
siring to ascend thereon to heaven, and the Lord, not 
being pleased with this, made them speak in different 
tongues so they could not understand each other and 
had to quit the building. Waxing more and more 
earnest with each passing sentence, the poor old man 
was proceeding with the call of Abraham, etc., when 
the gentleman, who was by this time thoroughly 
wearied, poked the little boy in the side, anxious to 
obtain a little information concerning the progress 
of the evening's worship. Sambo was fast asleep, 
but was finally aroused sufficiently to give attention 
to the traveler's question, "Say, little fellow, is your 
father about through?" Sambo rubbed his eyes, and 
replied, "Where is he? when he gets to the Red Sea, 
he is just half through!" 

I often hear prayers that remind me forcibly of 
this incident. No wonder many children dread the 
hour of family worship. It is not always the long 
prayers that tell for good, my brother; but prayer 
that comes from a heart overflowing with love and 
devotion. True affection can express itself in few 
words. 

We ought to pray often and regularly; not merely 
once a week, or once a year. In some homes it is 
customary to have family worship during the long 
winter evenings, but omit it when the summer even- 
ings come. I once heard of a pious old farmer who 
wanted to have family prayer every morning and 
evening, but when the spring work came on he felt 
that he hardly had time for it. But a happy thought 
occurred! He sat down one day and wrote out a very 
nice prayer. It had a splendid introduction, a good 
line of argument, and a nice conclusion. He put a 



PRAYER 



53 



string through it, and hung it up at the head of his 
bed, and then every night upon retiring he would 
point to the prayer and say, "Lord, there's my senti- 
ments;" and when he arose early in the morning, he 
would point again, once more declaring,"There's my 
sentiments," and hasten to his work! 

Illustrating to what awkward lengths this disposi- 
tion to save time at the expense of the Lord may 
lead one, Bro. S. B. Ross, of Iowa, once told me 
of a leading man in a certain village church, who be- 
lieved in having family worship, but was so stingy 
he reluctantly took the necessary time for it. He 
was a good old Baptist brother, and he wanted to let 
his light shine, as several of his hired men were not 
Christians. So every morning while his men were 
eating breakfast he would read a chapter, as that 
would save time; and then, just as soon as they were 
done eating, he would say, "Let us pray," and they 
w^ould all kneel around the table and the old gentle- 
man would pray briefly, always concluding with 
"Amen — boys get out the horses!" 

Oh, we are so salfish in our prayers. I would that we 
had more of God, more of Christ, more unselfishness 
in our petitions. There is too much of the spirit cf 
the man who prayed, "Lord, bless m.e and my wife, 
my son John and his wife, us four and no more." 
How often we pray for ourselves, "Lord bless us! Give 
us health, success and happiness"~whilst we forget 
all about those suffering around us. May God help 
us not only to pray unselfishly, but to act accordingly. 
All prayer must be followed by consistent action on 
our part if we would see the answer desired. 

"Since I began," said Doctor Payson, when a 
student, "to beg God's blessing on my studies,! have 
done more in one week than in the whole year be- 
fore." So many say, "We haven't time, we haven't 



54 PRAYER 

time!" Friends, we have all the time there is! And 
we ought not to think of trying to get through our 
daily work without earnest, thoughtful communion 
with our Maker. Martin Luther was a very busy man. 
Doctor Bowers, in his great lecture on Luther, says 
that he wrote five works during the last thirty days of 
his life. And it is a well known fact that he gave the 
world a very good translation of the Bible, besides 
doing much other work that will make his name live 
throughout coming generations. Perhaps not one man 
in ten thousand to-day is so busy as Martin Luther 
was. And yet it is said of him that he once wrote a 
friend, saying, "I am so busy that I find it necessary 
to pray three hours every day in order to get along 
with my work." 

"A great part of my time," said McCheyne, "is 
spent in getting my heart in tune for prayer. It is 
the link that connects earth with heaven." 

I like practical poetry. And Herbert gave us an 
eminently practical couplet when he said: 

"Who goeth to bed and doth not pray, 
Maketh two nights of every day." 

Oh, may we more and more get into the habit of 
incessant prayer, appealing to our Father for all we 
need, thanking Him for all we receive. Let us pray 
on and work on, fainting not. Pray for our church; 
pray for ourselves; pray for our neighbors, that they 
may be converted to Christ; pray for all men and for 
all good causes. And then let us work just as hard 
as we pray, for we must do our part if we would ex- 
pect the Lord to bless us. And let us not give up 
if our prayers are not answered immediately. God 
knows what is best for us. Some of the most earnest 
prayers ever offered have gone unanswered, — that is, 
they were not answered the way we wanted them 



PRAYER 



55 



answered. This has been my experience, and thank 
God I have lived to see that if He had answered my 
prayers according to my desire at the time, it would 
have been the worst thing He could have done for me! 
But the Father gave me something better in due time. 
So let us always pray in submission, for we have de- 
sires sometimes that ought not to be gratified. Jesus 
prayed, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass 
from me; nevertheless, not my will but thine be 
done.'' When we pray for any blessing, it should be 
in this spirit: If it is Thy will, dear Father, grant 
Thy servant's request. And I believe that praying 
thus, ninety-nine cases out of every hundred, the 
Lord will give us just what we ask. It was Dr. 
Guthrie, I believe, who said,"Thousandsof my prayers 
were answered almost instantly, while at other times 
the Lord withheld an answer for years." We may 
have alike experience, but let us keep on praying, al- 
ways remembering that "the Lord doeth all things 
well." 

You will pardon me if I give you here a personal 
reminiscence. I know that I am not as good a man 
as I ought to be. As the poet says: 

^'I know I am weak and sinful. 
It comes to me more and more." 

Yet, God has been very merciful to me all my 
life and has blessed me wonderfully. And when I 
am preaching about prayer, I always feel it a duty as 
well as a sweet privilege, to m.ention one of the 
most impressive experiences of my life, illustrating 
the necessity of entire submission to God if we would 
be heard at the throne of Grace. 

A number of years ago we were living at Lincoln, 
Kansas, where I was pastor of the church. Our oldest 
boy, Paul, was then about fourteen months old, and 
he was teething~and you mothers know what a 



56 • PRAYER 

critical period with little ones that is. One Saturday 
afternoon Little Paul went into terrible convulsions, 
and for two days they continued, one severe spasm 
following another with frightful frequency. We had 
the best reputed physician in the city, and some of 
the best nurses I have ever seen. Our neighbors 
and brethren of the church were very kind to us in 
our affliction. I think we never fully appreciated 
before how sweet and holy Christian fellowship is. 
For nearly two days our child lay at the point of 
death. On Sunday he had seemed a little better; but 
about nine o'clock Monday he had the worst convul- 
sion that had yet attacked him. His little eyes were 
set and his limbs and forehead became so deathlike 
that one of the nurses said, "It is all over now," and 
she folded his little hands across his breast. For 
two days and nights wife and I prayed, "O God, 
spare our darling child; we cannot give him up, — we 
cannot do it — spare him to us!" Sometimes I would 
go into my study alone and pray; sometimes wife 
would be with me, and upon our knees together we 
would cry, "Father, spare our babe! Oh, we cannot 
give him up!" That was the way we had prayed, but 
it seemed that God would not hear us. And so on 
that Monday morning as our babe lay there uncon- 
scious, and I put my hand on his little marble brow, it 
seemed that the end had surely come. At last I said, 
"It is all right. We have kept him now longer than 
we were worthy to keep him; take him, Lord." Wife 
stood beside me with aching heart; but as we looked 
at our babe we said, "Take him, Lord; it is all right. 
Thy will be done." We gave him up freely — never, 
I think, did we give up anything we desired more 
freely. And it was not an hour before our child was 
better, and he is alive and well to-day — the light and 
joy of our home! The moment we brought ourselves 



PRAYER 57 

to the point of entire submission, where we could 
truly say and feel,"Thy will be done/' that moment 
our prayers were answered. 

Have your prayers gone unanswered, my friend? 
If so, perhaps you are not praying submissively; or 
you are not praying in the name of Christ. You 
must pray Scinpturally. If so, God will send the an- 
swer. If not, do not be surprised if He withholds it. 
May these thoughts spur you to greater things; if so, 
the result no tongue can tell. Prayer lifts the world 
heavenward! Prayer lifts up the soul! Prayer en- 
larges the Kingdom of Christ! Prayer starts waves 
of righteousness rolHng over earth's dominions! 
Prayer is the salvation of the church, of the family, 
of the home! Then keep on praying, my fellow- 
servant of the Lord. Keep on praying, for the more 
you ask for, the more will you receive. God longs 
to bless his children more and more abundantly. Live 
right and pray right, and the more powerful for good 
will you daily become, and the richer will be your 
Christian experience. 

A lady friend of ours, a distinguished elocutionist, 
once argued with me against the necessity of prayer. 
She had been reading Major Whittle's book on "An- 
swered Prayers.'' (I think myself this book over- 
does the matter.) She said, "If God is a good God, 
and if He is kind to His children, why is it necessary 
for us to pray.? Will He not give us what we need 
without our asking.?" She was an Episcopalian, but 
had that peculiar belief about prayer. I do not think 
she had come in touch with Christ as she ought to 
have done. I tried to convince her that her ideas 
were incorrect. Several years passed, when to my 
surprise, just a few weeks ago, I received a letter from 
her saying, "Pray for my mother! Pray for my 
brother!" Several times the request was repeated. 



58 PRAYER 

(Her mother had lost her mind, and her brother was 
lying in a hospital at the point of death.) It is very 
easy to argue, and say, "I guess there is no need of 
praying," when all is well. But, oh, when the storms 
of this life overwhelm the soul; when sad afflictions 
come rolling over us one after another; and when it 
seems that the whole world is against us, it is then 
that we realize the necessity and power of prayer. It 
is very easy for the man who stands out of the church 
and gives his time and talent to the service of the 
devil to say there is no need of prayer. But when 
he comes down to the hour of death, naturally his 
soul looks heavenward. But if he has all his life 
trampled underfoot, willfully, the commandments. 
of the Lord, in vain doth he look. God does not honor 
the prayer of the alien sinner until he manifests a 
willingness to believe and obey. You may pray the 
publican's prayer; but the Lord will not be merciful to 
you unless, like the publican, you are willing to do 
promptly what the Lord commands. Saul of Tarsus 
prayed three days and nights without food or drink 
at Damascus; but the Lord did not answer his prayers 
until he was brought in contact with Christ by com- 
plete belief and obedience. (See Acts 9: 1-18.) 
Hence I must say frankly that until you are willing 
to keep the commandments of the Bible and so come 
in contact with the blood of Christ, it is useless for 
you to pray, for otherwise your prayers will not go 
above your roof. But if you can pray in the spirit 
of Saul — "What wilt thou have me to do, Lord.^ I 
will do it gladly and promptly," then God will hear 
you. 

And now is there an alien sinner here who wants 
the precious promises of Prayer? One who wants 
Christ's promise that his petitions will be heard and 
answered.? If so, come and make the "good con- 



PRAYER 59 

fession." Come and obey God's preceptSo Come and 
be one among his people. In the Master's blessed 
name, we beseech you, give God your heart! 



THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD, 

2 Tim. 2:15. "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a work- 
man that needeth not to be ashamed, rightlv dividing the Word of 
Truth." 

The Bible is the oldest book in the world; the Bible 
is the most interesting book in the world; the Bible 
is the most logical book in the world, and from every 
point of consideration the greatest book in the 
WORLD. Yet, notwithstanding all this, it is one of the 
most abused books under the shining sun. Yes, al- 
though it has the largest circulation of any book in 
the. world; although it is printed in the greatest num- 
ber of languages of any book in the world; and al- 
though it is in all respects the most precious book in 
the world, it is the most abused among the children 
of men. 

How is it abused.? In a thousand ways. It is 
abused by its enemies who deny its divinity, blas- 
pheme the holy name of its Great Author, and make 
light of its sacred teachings. But worse than this, if 
possible, it is abused by its friends who unwittingly, 
or willfully misdivide, misinterpret, and misapply it, 
thus making it appear to thoughtless sinners a sense- 
less mess of superstition and mysticism. Thousands 
of people nibble at the Bible like the fish that so 
many of them seem to be. They do not read it 
systematically and sensibly, as God intended it to be 
read. Then again, the Church of Rome ties it up 
in its monasteries and rectories, telling its poor, de- 
luded subjects that they can't understand it, and that 

60 



THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 6t 

the priests must read it and interpret it for them. Oh, 
this is a sight to make angels weep! If there is any- 
thing the people ought to read it is the Bible. It is 
SO simple that the wayfaring man though quite ig- 
norant can understand it, and be led by its glorious 
precepts and promises to a higher life. 

If I can get the people to reading the Bible ear- 
nestly, I always look for good results in my protracted 
meetings, or revival meetings, whichever you choose 
to call them. I like the term "protracted^^ quite well, 
but I like the term "revival" better. We all need to 
be revived. We need to be refreshed, renewed, stirred 
up for greater things for God. We all need a revival 
of that joy and peace and hope which should ever 
characterize the children of God. 

Mr. Moody defines a revival to be a "bringing forth 
from obscurity." I think this is a very good defini- 
tion. We need to bring forth from its obscurity the 
latent energies of the church. We need to bring 
forth from its shell of indifference and carelessness, 
and fan into a roaring blaze of zeal, the talent and 
consecration which has lain dormant so long in the 
hearts of Christ's followers. And one of the best 
ways in the world to do this is to get everybody to 
studying the Bible, talking about it,discussing it, and 
even controverting over its great lessons. 

But oh, how ignorant concerning God's Book so 
many of His children are! And this ignor- 
ance is confined to no particular locality. It is 
well night universal. This is all wrong. We 
ought all to be faithful students of the Bible, for 
it is the chart and compass by which we must be 
guided over the ocean of life to our haven of rest 
beyond. 

Now when you turn to God's Word, how do you 
read it } Don't you usually read a chapter here or 



62 THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 

there, just as the book happens to open, one place 
just as good as another? Of course you do! No 
system, no rule, no method. That's the reason you 
don't understand it better. If I should ask you to 
turn with me to the first chapter of Nahum, I expect 
it would take some of you five minutes to find it. 
You would turn and turn and turn, looking here and 
there and everywhere, fumbling all through the Bible 
before you could find it. There is probably not one 
person here who knows whether the Book of Jude 
has one chapter or six — no; I will not say there is not 
one person; but probably there are not ten present 
who would know. And yet, this is God's Book! We 
treat our histories, works of fiction, compilations of 
poems, and even our newspapers better than we do 
the Bible. We should remember that it is not simply 
a matter of pastime or luxury to study God's Book. 
It is a matter of positive duty as well as privilege. 
Peter enjoins us to be "always ready to give a reason 
for the hope that is within us." How can we do this 
effectively unless we are well posted in the Scriptures? 
It is a pity that there is so little Bible knowledge 
among professing Christians to-day. It seems to me 
that it is high time the attention of the people were 
turned to a more thorough study of the Bible, the 
Book which contains God's will. They study every- 
thing else under the heavens; they study the cate- 
chism, the creeds, the confession of faith, and the ser- 
mons of great preachers; but they do not study the 
Bible. They study the political outlook, the market 
reports, and the weather prophets' prognostications, 
but they do not study the Bible. And yet many of 
these self-same worthies are always ready to give you 
their opinion on a given doctrine, and are often very 
bold in attempting to uphold their notions by de- 
tached passages from the Word. If one finally drives 



THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 63 

them to the wall in argument, then they will waive 
the whole matter by saying,"Oh,well, Tm not posted 
in the Scriptures as I ought to be." Sad admission, 
but true of the majority of church members the whole 
world over. 

Oh, I wish people knew more about the Bible! If 
the masses knew more about the Bible, and loved it 
more — did not pretend to love it, but really loved it 
— it would not be difficult to turn hundreds, yes 
thousands, to Christ, where we now win only scores. 

"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a work- 
man that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing 
the word of truth." You see we are not to read the 
Bible as a simple luxury; we are to study it. God 
did not give us this book simply for our entertainment, 
to read it when we felt like it and neglect it the bal- 
ance of the time; but he has given us a positive com- 
mand to study the Bible. The divine Master com- 
manded the study of God's Word when He said to the 
Jews, as recorded in John 5:39, "Search the Script- 
ures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and 
they are they which testify of me." You rem.ember 
on one occasion it was said that the people of Berea 
were "more noble than those of Thessalonica." Why.? 
Because they"received the word with all readiness of 
mind, and searched the Scriptures daily to see 
whether those things were so." (Acts 17:10-11.) 

I would to God I could get all this audience to 
study the Word of God throughout this revival; not 
simply to read, but to search the Scriptures to see 
whether what I say is true or not. I don't care what 
you think of me personally; that concerns me very 
little. But I want you to know that the message I 
bear is true. Forget me, forget the occasion, but 
do not, I beseech you, forget the truth I speak to 
you. I beg of you to accept it, not because I speak 



64 THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 

it, but because it is god's word. Search the Script- 
ures, — examine, investigate, weigh and consider. 
The apostle Paul was writing to a young preacher 
when he used the words of our text — "Study to show 
thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth 
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.'' 
Now Timothy had been familiar with the Scriptures 
from a child. He had known them from his grand* 
mother Lois, and his mother Eunice. But neverthe- 
less, Paul says to him, ^^ Study P^ 

Now the important question arises. How are we to 
study the scriptures.'* This is a question very much 
discussed. Preachers discuss it, the Young People's 
Society of Christian Endeavor discusses it in their 
meetings, and the Young Men's Christian Association 
discusses it. One of the very best answers to the 
question I have ever heard, was at a ministerial in- 
stitute in Iowa, some years ago. Bro. J. E. Denton, 
now of California, had a paper on "how to study 
THE BIBLE." He Said, "The best way to study the 
Bible, is to study it!" Good suggestion. There is 
much studying about the Bible now-a-days, but en- 
tirely too little studying of it. 

How does a young man study law? Why, he reads 
Blackstone, the decisions of the higher courts, the 
Constitution, and the best works on Jurisprudence. 
He pores over the subject day after day, week after 
week, and year after year — Law, law, law is all he 
thinks about. Does he study a little trigonometry, 
a little geology, a little rhetoric, a little botany.? No, 
not necessarily. He studies Law. 

How does a young man study medicine? Why,he 
just studies medicine. He reads all the books he can 
get on medicine, reads the experiences of great 
physicians, goes to a Medical College, and works in 
the dissecting room. He studies anatomy, physiology 



THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 65 

and hygiene week after week, and month after month. 
Finally he comes out a Doctor. While pursuing his 
course did he study astronomy, the higher classics, 
and theology? Oh, no. It is a good thing to have 
some knowledge of all these things, but the medical 
student does not dabble a little here and a little there 
in the various branches of education; but desiring to 
fit himself for the practice of medicine, he studies 
medicine. 

So with any other profession. If we desire to fit our- 
selves for the practice of Christianity we must study 
THE BIBLE. For this is God's great text-book on 
higher living. We must study the religion of Jesus — 
pore over the Book of God day after day, week after 
week, month after month, and year after year; medi- 
tate upon it day and night; hide it in our hearts; 
make it a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our 
pathway; for it is the Word of Eternal Life. Study 
under^ above, around, and through the Bible, so to 
speak. Learn all we can of it and about it. It w^ould 
be very difficult for sinners to remain away from the 
church if professing Christians v^ere filled to over- 
flowing with the Word of the Lord and the Love of 
Christ — that love which suffereth long and is kind; 
which envieth not, and is not puffed up. 

In order to study the Bible profitably v/e must 
rightly divide it. "Study to show thyself approved 
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, 
rightly dividing the word of ti^uth,'^'^ The end desired 
is to "show ourselves approved unto God." How 
can we succeed in this? By doing two things: first, 
rightly dividing and applying the Scriptures; and sec- 
ond, thus proving ourselves faithful workmen. When 
we have passed these two points we will have gained 
the approval of our Heavenly Father. But there are 
multitudes of professed Christians who have never 



66 THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 

passed this first point. They fail in a consistent 
division of the Word, and so prove themselves bun- 
gling workmen who ought to be ashamed. 

We should not fail to treat the Bible as we would 
any other book when v^e come to study it. It means 
what it says and we should govern our interpretations 
and applications of it accordingly. Some people 
think the Bible to be a very mysterious Book; they 
say they can't understand it. Where do they get that 
idea? From Romanism and a false Protestantism. 
The Romanist has the idea'that the Bible is a dan- 
gerous thing for the masses. And it is dangerous 
— to Romanism. If the rank and file of the Catholic 
Church were allowed to read the Bible for themselves, 
Romanism would soon wane and fall. The constant 
effort of Romanism is to keep the masses subject to 
the priest by keeping them in ignorance of God's 
Word. A false Protestantism would Hkev^ise keep its 
subjects bound to creeds by making it appear the Bible 
is too deep for the-common mind, and its interpre- 
tation must be left to learned doctors of divinity. 
But this is all wrong. God's written Word is so 
simple that a child can read it and understand it like 
any other book of history, or biography, or even like 
the daily newspaper. Take it as it is written, be- 
lieving what it says, for it is simple, and yet all-com- 
prehensive. It is the language of inspiration. God 
has not trifled with his children in his Word; but He 
has given us a plain, practical code of laws. If there 
is any one thing above another the world ought to 
thank the Christian Church for, it is the truth we 
have insisted upon so earnestly for seventy-five years, 
viz., t/ial the Bible is its ozvn best interpreter. By 
observing the following four simple rules, we can 
usually arrive very promptly at the meaning the 
sacred writer intended to convey: ist,Who speaks? 



THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 67 

2nd, To whom does he speak? 3rd, Under what dis- 
pensation? 4th, For what purpose? lam convinced 
that a faithful observance of this easy plan would re- 
move nine-tenths of the theological blunders with 
which the creeds and confessions of the world are in- 
fested. 

Now I venture to say that many of you when you 
go to read the Bible just dip in over here, or over 
there, wherever the book happens to open. You 
may think that is studying the Bible, but it is not. 
No wonder many professing Christians declare that 
they cannot get interested in reading the Scriptures. 
Of course not, when they go about it so childishly. 
Suppose one opens the book at the first chapter of 
First Chronicles and reads there a lot of those hard 
names: Adam, Seth, Enoch, Kenan, Malhalaleel, 
Jerel, Henoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, 
Ham, Japheth, etc." He closes the book exclaiming: 
"Oh, the Bible is so dry!" Why, of course a genealog- 
ical table is rather dry for a starting place. But, my 
friend, if you would commence in the right place and 
read consistently and persistently, you would find 
the Bible the most interesting book in the world. I 
want you to try it. Commence at the first, read it 
systematically, methodically, and let its sacred words 
be applied to the age and people for which their 
Divine Author intended them. Read it as you read 
any other book. For instance, you pick up a United 
States History: What do you read first? Why, you 
read about the early discoveries by Columbus, the 
Cabots, and others; how they came over here and 
discovered the New World. Then you read the ac- 
count of the founding of the Colonies; you become 
interested in the accounts of the settlement at James- 
town, St. Augustine, Plymouth Rock, etc. Thirdly, 
you study the history of the French and Indian wars, 





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THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 69 

and then the Revolutionary war. Then you go on 
to the period of Reconciliation, the development of 
the States, and finally the Civil War, and Reconstruc- 
tion. You don't go back to the old Articles of Con- 
federation when you are under the Constitution. And 
in studying the Bible you should not go back to 
Leviticus and Deuteronomy, books written for one 
people, the Jews, and apply what you find there to 
us, Gentiles. This would be very careless workman- 
ship, to say the least. 

With the chart before us let us endeavor to rightly 
divide the Bible, applying each portion to the place 
in which it belongs* Notice— First is the Tree of 
Knowledge. Away back, six thousand years ago, 
God placed the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of 
Eden, and Adam was told that of every tree of the 
garden he might eat, except the tree of Knowledge of 
good and evil. "You must not touch that tree,'^ said 
the Creator, "You may eat of any or all of the other 
fruits of the garden, but not of that tree of Knowledge." 
But you know the sad story of the fall. Adam and 
Eve ate of the forbidden fruit and were driven from 
the garden. This was the beginning of time, or Four 
Thousand and Four years before Christ, according 
to accepted chronology. 

We read the first five books. Genesis, Exodus, Le- 
viticus, Numbers^ and Deuteronomy, and find that 
they naturally constitute one division, or period of 
the Bible. We will find that the Bible naturally 
divides itself into seven periods, and each period 
may be beautifully and not inappropriately compared 
to the seven prongs on the golden candlestick in the 
ancient Tabernacle. First: 

THE PENTATEUCH, OR THE FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES. 

The theological world, in discussing higher crit- 



70 THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 

icism— SO called---disagrees as to whether Moses 
wrote all of the first five books of the Bible. But 
I don't care whether Moses wrote five books 
or only three of them. I believe he wrote them 
all. But what's the difference whether he did 
or not? If he didn't some other great man of God 
did. A great deal of this "higher criticism*' is 
low dozvn faith, I fear. These books cover a 
period of 1492 years. The first of them, Genesis, 
contains an account of the creation. There has been 
a great deal said about God making the world in six 
days. The infidel says it could not have been done. 
Well, the Word does not say that God made the 
world in six literal days of twenty-four hours each. 
David says a thousand years is with the Lord as one 
day. Each of those days may have been a thousand, 
or a million years, — six long epochs or periods of 
time. The Bible and true science always agree. As 
far as science has yet gone in its investigations, it 
has never gone further than the first verse of the 
Bible, "In the beginning God created the heaven and 
the earth." This is the only exact and scientific 
account of the creation extant. 

Then comes the history of the first man, Adam, 
and his wife. Eve, and his two sons, Cain and AbeL 
Cain slew his brother Abel and the Lord put a mark 
on him so that all Vn^ouM know that he was a mur- 
derer. I suppose some one will ask what kind of a 
mark it was. I don't know; but nothing worse, I 
guess, than some of the trade-marks I've seen in 
Chicago. At any rate the Lord marked him, and 
wherever he went there went the sad reminder of his 
sin. 

Then came the old man, Methuselah, and that 
good, pure man, Enoch. Then came Noah with his 
ark, and the flood. Then the Tower of Babel, the 



THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 71 

confusion of tongues, the call of Abraham, Jacob's 
descent into Egypt, and Joseph's exaltation. Of all 
these things we have an interesting account in the 
book of Genesis, These books contain the history 
of one family and its descendants. There might have 
been a great many other families upon the earth at the 
time of the creation of Adam and Eve. I don't be- 
lieve there were; but there might have been. So 
far as God's will concerning humanity is concerned, 
however, Adam was the first man, and the Bible gives 
us the history of this man and his posterity. It is 
not claimed that the Bible is a complete history of the 
world, for it is not — does not purport to be. And yet 
it gives us multitudes of facts that no history of 
man could supply. 

In Exodus we have an account of the bondage of 
the Israelites in Egypt, and the sending of Moses to 
deliver them from the greedy hand of King Pharaoh. 
The ten plagues are described, the crossing of the Red 
Sea, and the forty years' wandering in the wilder- 
ness. Then we have an account of the giving of the 
Law on Mount Sinai. Moses was in the Mount forty 
days and forty nights, receiving from Jehovah those 
precepts and rules commonly known as the Law of 
Moses. And, by the way, it is the best Law, save 
the Law of Christ, the world has ever known. With 
all the boasted progress of the nations, the laws of 
the present day are, in many vital respects, much 
inferior to the Law of Moses. 

We pass on through Leviticus, Deuteronomy and 
Numbers, and come to the second natural division of 
the Old Testament, which we term the 

HISTORICAL DIVISION, 

This period contains twelve books — Joshua, Judges, 
Ruth, I. and II. Samuel, I. and II. Kings, I. and IL 



72 THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 

Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther — twelve books 
of history, a history of God's dealings, not so much 
with the Philistines, Perizzites, Hittites, Hivites, 
Moabites, and other people incidentally mentioned, 
but with His chosen people, the Children of Israel, 
the people through whom the Saviour of the world 
was to come. Away back in the Garden of Eden, 
the Lord said to Eve, "The heel of thy seed shall 
bruise the serpent's head." This is considered by 
commentators a prophecy of Christ. And God re- 
peated it to Abraham and to Jacob, saying, "In thee 
and in thy seed shall all of the nations of the earth 
be blessed." 

And so we have these twelve books of history. We 
learn from them that the Israelites were sometimes 
very close to God in service, and sometimes very 
far off. Sometimes they were very good, and some- 
times very bad — very much like many of the Lord's 
servants these modern tim^es. Some skeptics have 
a great deal to say about the views of these people, and 
the way they lived and acted; but they should re- 
member that they lived several thousand years ago in 
the "moonlight age of the world," and they could 
not be expected to be as enlightened and highly de- 
veloped as we who live in the nineteenth century of 
the Christian era, in the "Sunlight Age." The Pen- 
tateuch coders the "Starlight Age." The old patri- 
archs had received but little light comparatively, and 
I think some of them did wonderfully well. Look at 
Abraham, for instance; and Moses, Joshua, Samuel, 
and others. Their careers were remarkably free from 
imperfections considering the light they had. 

Now we come to the third division, which we call 
the 



THE GREATEST ROOK IN THE WORLD 73 

POETICAL DIVISION. 

This division or period contains six of the most 
beautiful poetical books — Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ec- 
clesiastes, the Song of Solomon, and the Lamenta- 
tions of Jeremiah, We have forty-two chapters in 
the book of Job. The hero of this book was a man 
of great sorrows and afflictions, all of which he bore 
with great patience. Down to this day "As patient 
as Job'^ is a very common expression, but a very 
uncommon occurrence. 

The next poetical book comprises the Psalms of 
David and other sacred writers. There are one hun- 
dred and fifty of these selections, and you may search 
the world over, and you cannot find more beautiful 
rhetoric, more lofty and inspiring thought than you 
will find in this wonderful work. 

Next come Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, written by 
Solomon, the wisest man the world has ever seen 
(except, of course, the God-man, Jesus). Then the 
Song of Solomon, — very beautiful — and the lamen- 
tations of Jeremiah — sad, but wholesome. 

There is a fourth division in the old Testament, 

THE PROPHETICAL, 

There are sixteen books in this division, or period. 
The first, Isaiah, was written about seven hundred 
years before Christ, and the last, the book of Malachi, 
about four hundred years before the advent of John 
the Baptist. Besides these we have Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos,Obadiah, Jonah, 
Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai and 
Zechariah. These sixteen books embrace what 
scholars term the major and minor prophets. 

Isaiah prophesies concerning the reign of peace. He 
speaks of the time when the Hon and the lamb should 



74 THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 

lie down together, and when swords should be beaten 
into plough-shares, and spears into pruning hooks — 
the coming of the reign of arbitration, which is here 
to-day; not in its fullness, 'tis true, but still enough to 
fulfill prophecy, enough to verify the correctness of 
what these men taught hundreds of years before the 
coming of Christ. Many of these prophecies had a 
two-fold application, first to the Children of Israel, 
and secondly to us, the followers of Christ, or subjects 
of the New Covenant. 

The description of the crucifixion of Christ in the 
53d chapter of Isaiah is perhaps the most beautiful, 
as well as the most perfect account of this wonderful 
event to be found anywhere. And yet it was written 
seven centuries before the occurrence! But just as 
Isaiah prophesied, so Jesus Hved, and so He died. 
Skeptics cannot satisfactorily account for this on any 
other basis than that of inspiration. 

Going on to the New Testament, we have three 
natural divisions: First, 

THE BIOGRAPHICAL DIVISION. 

This division, or period, embraces Matthew, Mark, 
Luke, and John. These four books furnish quite 
complete biographical sketches of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. They tell us how he was born, a babe in the 
Bethlehem manger; how at twelve years of age He 
was in the temple, asking and answering questions, 
confounding the learned Doctors of the Sanhedrim; 
how He went down to the Jordon and was baptized, 
saying to John the Baptist, "Thus it becometh us to 
fulfill all righteousness;" how He went about healing 
the sick, opening the eyes of the blind, raising the 
dead; how He gave us the Sermon on the Mount, the 
greatest sermon ever preached; and finally, how He 
was betrayed, tried before Pilate, and crucified; and 



THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 75 

then, after lying in the grave three days, He arose 
from the dead, and went among His disciples again 
for forty days; when He ascended to the right hand 
of God, where He is to-day preparing a home for the 
*^just made perfect.'' So we have the wonderfully 
interesting biographical sketches written by these 
four men. And I want to make this assertion: — There 
is not an honest skeptic living who can, unpreju- 
dicedly, sit down and read the sixteen Books of 
Prophecy, and then the four books of Biography, and 
not be a believer in Jesus of Nazareth. 

The second natural division in the New Testament 
is the 

BOOK OF CONVERSIONS. 

This division or period embraces but one book, but 
it is a great book. Now shall I just go on rapidly, 
and not say much about this book lest I should hurt 
somebody's feelings? No; we must not ignore this 
book. I am aware that modern evangelists practically 
ignore the teachings and examples of the Book of 
Acts, But those who take the Bible as their only 
rule of faith and practice cannot afford to do so, for 
this Book was written by inspiiation the same as the 
rest, and it tells us how men were made Christians 
under the preaching of Peter, James, John, Philip, and 
Paul. We are told in inspired language what to do 
in order to be saved. I would to God that every 
evangelist in the world, from Moody down to the 
least, when they go out to convert men, would turn 
them to the Book of Acts, and teach them just as 
God's chosen messengers did eighteen hundred years 
ago — tell them what Peter told them on the Day of 
Pentecost, "Repent and be baptized, every one of 
you. in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission 
of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy 



76 THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 

Spirit. '' You do not hear that verse quoted by Mr. 
Moody in his meetings when sinners inquire, "What 
shall we do to be saved?" You do not hear Mr. Sam 
Jones quote that verse, nor Mr. B. Fay Mills, when 
anxious inquirers cry out, "Oh, what shall we do?" 
Why? Because they do not believe that baptism is 
essential to forgiveness. But what did Peter say? 
"Repent and be baptized unto (tlie Revised Version 
has it)the remission of sins." But modern revivalists 
say that baptism is a controverted subject, and hence 
they prefer to leave it out of their meetings. But 
pray, what subject is not more or less controversial? 
And why be afraid of controversy? The truth has 
nothing to lose by it. I believe that God meant 
Acts 2:38 for all time, and for all pepole, and the 
evangelist who ignores that verse will have a big debt 
to settle with the Lord. 

If part of the Bible is non-essential, then why is it 
not all non-essential? If faith is necessary to salva- 
tion, and if it is necessary to repent and to pray in or- 
der to be saved, then why is it not necessary to be 
baptized? The same authority commanded all. And 
if men fail to declare the whole truth, God will cer- 
tainly hold them responsible. The Book of Acts is 
a history of conversions, and it should be made the 
principal text-book in all great revivals. We should 
endeavor always to keep close to God's pattern in 
everything, and especially in the great business of 
soul saving. 

The third natural division of the New Testament 
we term, 

THE EPISTOLARY DIVISION. 

This division or period contains twenty-one 
Epistles, and the Book of Revelation. 

Fourteen of the Epistles were written by Paul 



THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 77 

(ascribing the Book of Hebrews to him), — one by 
James, two by Peter, three by John, one by Jude. 
What were these Books written for? They were 
written to tell Christians what to do. The Book of 
Acts tells sinners what to do in order to become 
Christians, and the twenty-one Epistles and the Book 
of Revelation tell Christians what to do to hold out 
faithful. "Why,'' says one, "I thought all you folks 
believed in was to put people under the water/' Did 
you? Well, now listen; the Bible gives us one 
book telling people how to become Christians, and 
twenty-one books telling them how to live Christians. 
And we believe that baptism is necessary, for the 
Word of God so instructs us; but we also believe that 
if you don't live right after you are baptized, your 
baptism will not be worth a farthing at the Day of 
Judgment. You may baptize a man ten thousand 
times, in the most approved form of the ordinance, 
but if he does not live a consistent Christian life 
afterwards, it will not avail him anything. The 
twenty-one epistles, then, are books of tremendous 
importance to every follower of Jesus. 

Then we have the Book of Revelation. Don't ask 
me to describe this Book. I have been a Christian 
only a little more than fourteen years. Ask some 
old father or mother in Israel, who has lived the 
Christian life fifty years — some one who for half a 
century has studied and lived by the precious promises 
of the Bible. Ask somebody like that, for, to old 
people, the Book of Revelation is very precious, be- 
cause it tells of the Golden Streets of the New Jeru- 
salem, and the Crystal Stream, and the Tree of Life, 
and all the glories of the "Over Yonder.'' It is a 
book full of warning and promise. We love it more 
and understand it better as we come nearer the 
Gates of Pearl. 



78 THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 

So we have this collection of wonderful Books — 
Thirty -nine in the Old Testament, and twenty-seven 
in the New, sixty-six in all; 1189 Chapters; 31,773 
Verses; 773,693 words; and 3,586,483 letters; and 
from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revela- 
tion there is not one single contradiction or dishar- 
mony worthy of note! And yet these sixty-six 
Books were written by some thirty-six different men, 
and it was some sixteen hundred years between the 
time Moses wrote the first Book, and the beloved 
disciple John recorded his wonderful vision on the 
Isle of Patmos ! The only way to satisfactorily ac- 
count for these marvelous facts is to admit that the 
writers were inspired. 

Oh, then, how reverently and carefully should we 
study God's Word! How cautious we should be lest 
we should fall into the error of ^^handling it deceit- 
fully!^' How particular we should be in dividing and 
applying it lest we direct some earnest soul wrongly, 
and so prove ourselves unworthy workmen. 

When sinners ask what they must do to be 
saved, instead of turning over here to the Book of 
Acts and telling them what to do, a great many min- 
isters turn over to the Old Testament books, or to the 
Epistles, and read something God never intended for 
the inquiring alien. What a shameful abuse of the 
Word is that! Then again there are a great many 
places where they teach that the Ten Commandments 
are still binding upon us who live this side of the 
Cross; and call the Sunday School, the "Sabbath 
School.'' Many preachers talk about "Sabbath ser- 
vices," etc. Let us talk right if we are going to talk. 
Why, the Sabbath was the seventh day of the week 
— what we call Saturday. And so you don't have any 
"Sabbath School," unless you are Seventh Day 
Baptists or Adventists,and I don't suppose you have 



THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 79 

many of those theological freaks here in Nine- 
teenth Century Chicago. Mr. Wilbur F. Crafts 
makes a great mistake in calling his otherwise ex- 
cellent organization the "American Sabbath Union." 
What can we expect of the masses when our great 
leaders make such inexcusable blunders.^ Let us 
speak of such societies as "The American Lord's Day 
Union," or, if you like it better,"The American Sun- 
day Union." We are not Jews. We are not under 
the Mosaic dispensation. We are living in the Chris- 
tian era, and not away back yonder in the reign of 
Saul or Manasseh. The Ten Commandments, as 
such, are no more binding upon Christians than are 
the old Articles of Confederation upon the United 
States. Let us be consistent if we want sinners to 
be. In many Sunday Schools they teach the children 
the Fourth Commandment, "Remember the Sabbath 
day to keep it holy." Now you don't do that, do 
you? You keep the First Day of the week. And 
that is right, for we are told that Christ's disciples 
met upon the First Day of the Week to break bread. 
And this was the day our Saviour arose from the 
grave. Now don't suggest, like your bunghng in- 
structors, that "the day was changed." It was not 
"changed." Not one of the Ten Commandments 
was "changed." They were fulfilled, and a New 
Law was given in their place. Jesus said, "Not one 
jot or one tittle of the lav/ (the law of Moses) shall 
pass away, till all h^ fulfilled ^ When He died on 
the cross, was buried, arose from the dead, and forty 
days after ascended to heaven, they were all "fulfilled," 
and on the Day of Pentecost they were laid out of the 
way forever and a Naw Law was given. The spirit of 
the Ten Commandments was incorporated in the New 
Law. But as our country is not now under the Ar- 
ticles of Cj>afederation,bat under the Constitution of 
the United States, so we are not under the Old Tes-^ 
tP^mant, but uod§r the New, 



8o THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 

If we want to convert sinners we ought to be able 
to turn quickly to the right place. If working with 
an infidel, turn to the prophecies, and to Matthew, 
Mark, Luke and John; if with a believer, who is not 
yet converted, turn to the Acts of the Apostles and 
read the commandments; if pleading with a wayward 
Christian, turn to the Epistles to learn how to live; 
if you who are trying to be faithful wish to encourage 
each other, turn to the Psalms of David, the Proverbs 
of Solomon, or the Book of Revelation. We are not 
in the comparative darkness of the Starlight Age, nor 
in the dim light of the Moonlight Age; but we are 
living in the glorious Sunlight Age with Christ the 
Great Central Thought; let us govern ourselves ac- 
cordingly. Let Christ stand out in bold relief; let 
the gospel run and be glorified; let the hearts of men 
turn to the Infinite! 

In studying God's Word don't pick out a little here 
and a little there, without regard to the design of the 
passage. Don't get a little doctrinal idea into your 
head and then run to the Bible to prove it. Don't 
turn over to Ezekiel 36:25, for instance, and imagine 
the Prophet is speaking to you. Don't do that. But 
first inquire. Who is speaking? Answer: the Prophet 
Ezekiel. Second: To whom is he speaking? To 
the Children of Israel. Third: Under what Dispen- 
sation? The Mosaic. And fouith: For what purpose? 
To show them how God was going to bring them 
back into his service, cleanse them frcm their sins, 
and cause them to rejoice as in former days. Some 
preachers use the text in trying to prove that sprin- 
kling for baptism is right. But anybody who will use 
those four simple rules ought to see with half an eye 
that the sacred writer did not have that subject in 
mind any more than the modern questions of free 
trade or protection. A minister who is guilty of such 



THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 8l 

exegesis is a very unsafe religious guide, to say the 
least. 

No, don't pick out a little here and a little there 
and patch it all together in order to establish some 
pet hobby. You can prove anything in that way, but 
it is a very wicked way. I heard a story illustrating 
the ridiculousness of this method of using the Bible: 
There was a good old Professor who always read a 
chapter to his students every morning. One day the 
boys turned to the old instructor's place and pasted 
two leaves together, and the next morning at v/orship 
he read at the bottom of the page, "And God made 
man;" — turning over he continued, — ** 300 cubits 
long." He took off his glasses and wiped them and 
looked again, and he said, "Children, this is very 
strange; but God says it, and whatever God says is 
right. The works of the Lord are indeed marvelous." 

That is the way the creeds are made, — one thing 
has been taken out of the Bible here, and another 
there, and all patched up together, till we have to- 
day hundreds of different creeds, and their supporters 
say, "They are all from the Bible." Well,if they are 
from the Bible, put them back where they belong! 
Detached truths often become the most dangerous 
falsehoods. 

By using the Bible as the creed-makers do, I can 
prove almost anything from it. You have heard the 
story of Lorenzo Dow, perhaps, who traveled ex- 
tensively over the South and East some decades ago. 
He was a good but very eccentric preacher. In his 
days the women wore "top-nots." I cannot describe 
the article ; it was a vv^ay they had of fixing their hair, 
— before, or behind, or some way — I don't know just 
how. At any rate Lorenzo didn't like the style, and 
concluded that he wanted to preach a sermon against 
it. So he looked through his Bible for a text (you 



82 THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 

know everybody must have a text); he looked every- 
where, but could not find anythig about *^tcp-nots," 
and he was at a less what to do. At last he found 
what he wanted. Over in Luke where the Saviour 
was foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem he found 
this expression: "Let him who is en the house-top not 
come down." Ah, thought Lorenzo, that will do very 
well- — " Top-not come down /" 

There is too much of this detached text-taking 
business am.ong ministers to-day. They want to 
preach something that they can't find a plain "Thus 
saith the Lord'' for, and so they take out a verse here, 
and one there, and patch them together, and so com- 
pel Scriptural warrants. Abusing the Bible in that 
way, I can prove that it is right to com.mit suicide. 
Yes, I can! 1 can prove that you ought to go and hang 
yourself. Listen — Over here in one place w^e read, 
"And Judas went out and hanged himiSeIf,"and in an- 
other, — "Go thou and do likewise," and in another 
place we read, "What thou doest do quickly." Now that 
is the way men prove a great many things, and thus 
make the Bible appear so miysterious that many poor 
souls decide that they never can understand it. That 
is the way we get Universalism and Unitarianism and 
Episcopalianism and all the other isms of the present 
age. Theologians have hashed up the Word of God, 
not dividing it aright, and hence not applying it in 
the way it ought to be applied. 

God gave us the Bible to use, not to abuse. And 
He wants us to use it right. But it is amazing how 
many wrong uses are made of the Bible. Why, I 
have often knov/n of families making little use of the 
big Bible except as an organ stool! And in some 
places I have opened the Bible and discovered a great 
provision of four-leafed clovers, or a faded rose that 
sorn^ g^'"-'" -"^''^^ had picked for her, and she had put 



THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 83 

in the Bible for safe keeping, thus using the sacred 
Book as a kind of museum and pressing machine com- 
bined! I heard of a thief who went into a house to 
steal, and accidentally discovered a ten dollar bill in 
the family Bible. It had been put there for safe keep- 
ing, the head of the family evidently thinking that 
nobody would ever look in the Bible. — O, no! I tell 
you chattel mortgages, promissory notes and ten 
dollar bills would be very safe in the sitting-room 
Bible in a great many families. 

I remember visiting a well-to-do friend, in one of 
our States, some years ago. He lived in a fine, big 
house, and was one of the prominent men in the 
town. When I arrived the folks were all away. I 
amused myself as best I could for awhile, and finally 
I thought I would look around and see if I could find 
a Bible. My friend was a prominent man in the 
Church, an elder, I believe, and so, of course,! antic- 
ipated no trouble in finding a copy of the Word. 
And Hooked on the center-table (everybody ought to 
have a Bible on the center-table); and I looked on 
the organ; and I looked in the book-case, and I don't 
remember how many places I did look; but found no 
Bible. I found his lodge magazines, newspapers, 
etc., but no Bible. Finally I looked on top of the 
secretary, and Eureka! There it was. I took it 
down and went to the light, and now listen! I will 
venture that with this index finger, I could have 
written in the dust with which that Christian man's 
Bible was covered the awful word, damnation! 

Oh, use the Bible, and use it right. God means 
you to use it. Use it as the most precious book un- 
der heaven. Use it as the chart and compass which 
was intended by your Creator to guide you over the 
sea of life, and land you at last at the port of eternal 
rest. That is the right way to use the Bible. 



84 THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 

I love its wholeson>2 precepts, precious promises. 
Well do I remember when I started away to school 
from my old home. When I reached the University 
and went up to my room in the dormitory, I locked 
the door, and began to unpack my trunk. Then the 
tears began to roll down my face, and I wanted to go 
back to mother, and father, and sisters. I had never 
been away from my loved ones so far before, and I 
was "homesick'^ — the most miserable feeling in the 
world! But I knew this would never do. So I took 
out my books, and hung up my clothes. Deep down 
in my trunk I found a little package, — "What was 
that?" thought I. I did't remember possessing any 
such package. But mother had packed my trunk, 
and maybe she put it in to surprise me. Sure 
enough! With trembling hands and fast beating 
heart I opened it. It was marked, "A present from 
Mother." And what do you think it was.? A little 
Bible. It was a cheap little Bible, — ^didn'tcost more 
than a dollar. But on the fly-leaf,in mother's hand, 
was written these words: — 

"Presented to George F. Hall by his mother, Mary 
J. Hal]." And then in father's hand appeared the 
following lines — 

' 'As you go forth, my son, in this life, 
'Midst sorrows and trials, midst troubles and strife, 
Let this Book be your guide; and never omit 
To search for the treasures contained in it." 

I am not very well off in this world's goods (yet 
thanks to kind Christian friends, I have never been 
allowed to want since I entered the ministry), but I 
say to you to-night, dear friends, that there is not 
money enough in all the Banks of Chicago to buy that 
little book. Mother is Over Yonder now, within the 
"gates of pearl." Father is getting old and will soon 
take his departure to be with her. But that hand- 



THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 85 

writing remains, and the fragrance of their sweet, 
Christian lives, and when I look at that precious book 
a train of hallowed thoughts comes sweeping through 
my soul, worth more than gold or stocks. 

Oh, wonderful Book is the Bible! The longest tel- 
egram ever sent was a message embracing the whole 
New Testament. It was wired from New York to 
Chicago when the New Version first appeared, a few 
years ago, and published in one of your morning 
papers. Oh, wonderful Book is the Bible! It has 
been translated into over three hundred -different lan- 
guages. There are over two hundred million copies in 
circulation. Great printing presses are running con- 
stantly at lightning speed to supply the ever increas- 
ing demand. A century ago the great French skeptic, 
Voltaire, prophesied that in one hundred years the 
Bible would not be read any more than a last yearns 
almanac. But the very room where he wrote' has 
since been used as a Bible Repository, and the same 
press that printed his blasphemies has since been used 
in printing the Word of God. 

It is said that when Sir Walter Scott was dying, 
he asked his son to read to him. "What shall I read, 
father?'* said the son. The great novelist had writ- 
ten Ivanhoe, the Waverly Novels, and other world- 
famous books, and his son, perhaps, thought that his 
father might want to hear something read from one of 
his own choice works. But the great man said, "What 
Book, my boy.? Why, there is but one book, — the 
Bible:' 

V/hen Lord Stanley first ct-ossed Africa, he was 999 
days on his journey. It is said that he had started 
with a goodly number of bocks, but soon found that 
owing to the burdened condition o-f his men, he must 
throw away all unnecessary luggage. He looked over 
his books, and reluctantly decided to leave behind 



86 THE GREATEST BOOK IN THE WORLD 

all but three — Lord Bacon's Essays, Shakespeare, 
and the Bible. He went on farther and farther into 
the blackness of that region, and as his men dropped 
off one by one, he saw that he must throw away every 
pound of luggage he could possibly do without. So 
he left behind Bacon's Essays, and carried on 
Shakespeare and the Bible (and it is said by critics 
that Shakespeare, the ultimatum of literature, is sixty 
per cent Bible). As he went on farther and farther 
into the dark jungles of Central Africa, he saw that 
he must let one of the books go. So with tear- 
dimmed eyes, he dropped Shakespeare, but carried 
the Bible on to the mouth of the Congo, where to- 
day there is growing up a great Christian nation. 
When Commodore Perry made peace with Japan, it 
is said that he took the "stars and stripes"^ — most 
beautiful and powerful of national banners — and 
spreading it upon the capstan of his vessel h@ laid an 
open Bible there and sailed into port and accom- 
plished his important mission without one drop of 
blood being shed. 

Ah, the Bible is the book with which to settle diffi- 
culties. It is the book of reconciliation between man 
and man, and between man and God. Read the Bible! 
Study it with the determination strongly fixed to 
"show thyself approved." And when you find out 
God's will. Do It. Don't /^r//j/ do it; don't try to 
do it in your own way; but do it the way God tells 
you to do it, and you shall have life eternal. 



FAITH. 

Romans 5:1. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace 
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 

Also Hebrews 11:6. "But without faith it is impossible to please 
him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he 
is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." 

The subject of faith occupies a very large part of 
the New Testament Scriptures. No wonder that it 
does, because it is one of the most important subjects 
upon which God has ever written to his children. It 
occupies a very large place in the scheme of human 
redemption outlined by our Lord Jesus Christ; hence 
it behooves us to study it very carefully that we may 
make no mistakes. 

I have selected two texts,both of which emphasize 
the importance of the subject. In the first Paul 
asserts that we are justified by faith; in the second he 
declares that we must have faith in order to please 
God. We may have good works; we may be very 
earnest; we may be moral; we maybe very pure and 
upright; we may be number-one citizens; but if we 
haven't faith, we cannot be justified, and cannot 
please God. 

When we realise that we are all sinners, and have 
come short of the glory of God; that in our present 

87 



85 FAITH 

condition we are lost; and that salvation can only be 
had through justification, and justification can only 
be had through faith, we begin to realize something 
of the vastness of this old, yet ever new, subject. Let 
us study it to-night, therefore, praying meanwhile 
that God may enlarge our hearts in willingness to 
accept His truth. 

Let us consider three questions: — 

1st. What is faith? 

2nd. How to get it. 

3rd. What to do with it when we do get it. 

Here we have the old English style of three heads, 
you know, and a careful consideration of the same 
ought to enlighten us all. 

Sometimes I use a blackboard, and just write across 
it, "What IS Faith?" It is a simple question, yet one 
that many cannot answer scripturally. We some- 
times sing that sweet old hymn — 

' 'My faith looks up to thee, 
Thou Lamb of Calvary.' ' 

We write about faith. We pray about faith. We 
talk about faith. We say, "Oh, we ought to have more 
faith." But what do we really mean by it? You 
perhaps remember that I said at the beginning of 
these meetings the great need of the Church of to-day 
was more faith. In this I think most Christian workers 
are agreed. But do we really understand what is 
meant by more faith? 

Now where shall we go to answer the questions just 
propounded? Shall we go to some human creed? 
No! Shall we go to some discipline man has made? 
No! Man is fallible; his disciplines and creeds might 
be incorrect. If comparatively right for this genera- 
tion, they might be all out of date, and have to be 
REVISED for the next. We want something for all 



FAITH 89 

time. So let us go to the Bible first, last and all the 
way. The Bible should ever be our guide— the first 
and last appeal of the child of God. The most bril- 
liant minds of the world have accepted the Scriptures 
as inspired of God. There are some four hundred 
millions of professed Christians now living who ac- 
cept the Bible as their standard of belief and practice. 
So with great confidence I turn to these sacred pages 
for instruction on this subject. 

Paul, what is faith.? Tell us. Hebrew 11: i. — 
"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the 
evidence of things not seen." Thus declares the 
great Apostle to the Gentiles — "The substance of 
things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen." 
Ah! yes. We have never seen the New Jerusalem, 
have we? No. Yet there is such a place? Yes. 
Very well, that is "the substance of things hoped 
for." We have never seen the Eternal King on his 
throne; we have never seen the Lord Jesus sitting at 
the right hand of Jehovah; we have never seen the 
millions of the redeemed praising the Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit, have we? No. These things have 
never been seen by human eyes except in vision. We 
have never seen the golden streets; we have never 
seen the tree of life; we have never seen the pure 
river of water of life, clear as crystal? No. Yet these 
things exist? Yes. These are the "substance of 
things hoped for." How do we know? We have the 
"evidence" that God has given. That is what Paul 
means by "the substance of things hoped for, and the 
evidence of things not seen." 
Eliza Cook says — 

"Faith is the subtle chain 
Which binds us to the Infinite; the voice 
Of a deep life within, that will remain 
Until we crowd it thence.*' 



90 



-FAITH 



Mr. Bailey says, ** Faith is a higher faculty than 
reason.'' 

But I fear the average student will not understand 
these definitions. So I shall give one of my own. It is 
a simple definition, and yet I think all-comprehensive. 
FAITH IS IMPLICIT CONFIDENCE IN GoD. That is all; 
simply implicit confidence in God, taking God at his 
word, without doubt, without fear, without wavering; 
immediate and absolute surrender of self to him with 
childlike confidence and trust; that is faith. Just as 
the little child looks up into papa's face and believes 
everything he says to be true, and that everything he 
does is right, and from his innermost heart has un- 
bounded confidence in everything that papa says or 
does, so the child of God looks up into the Father's 
face with faith and says, "Thou doest all things well." 
We cannot understand everything God has given 
us in his Book of Truth; we cannot understand the 
cross in its fullness; we cannot wholly com.prehend 
the scheme of human redemption as outlined by our 
Lord. But we know that "He doeth all things well." 
That is faith, without which none can please God, 
I recall a very pretty story illustrating faith. A little 
child at play remarked concerning something, "This 
is so-and-so." "Well," said her uncle, w^ko had over- 
heard the little one, "how^ do you know.?" "Why, 
because mamma says it is." "But mamma may be 
mistaken." "No," replied the trustful little one, 
"mamma is not mistaken; she says it is so, and it is." 
"But," persisted the uncle, "maybe mamma is fool- 
ing you; or possibly she thinks it is so, but has been 
incorrectly informed." But the little one could not 
be shaken — "No, Uncle; if mamma says it is so, it is 
so, whether it is so cr not!" 

What refreshing confidence! What simple faith! 
In this age of higher criticism — so called — we need 



FAITH 91 

more of such unshaken assurance. Why, I know a 
preacher who once declared three-fourths of the 
Bible to be fiction. This is a doubting age. Many 
pretended scholars say that much of the Holy Word 
is speculative, or fictitious, or allegorical, or some- 
thing — not true at all. And they put in their time 
trying to explain God's truths away, and bolster up 
their infidel theories. So I like the little girPs defini- 
tion of faith. It may not be very philosophical, but 
it is eminently practical. I wish more people would 
believe that if the Father has spoken, it is so! I 

KNOW IT IS TRUE ! I HAVE IMPLICIT CONFIDENCE IN GOD ! 

No matter whether you understand everything or not. 
Trust God anyhow. Paul said,"Great is the mystery 
of godliness." He could not understand it; but he 
believed. Great is the mystery of faith; we cannot 
comprehend it in all its proportions. But let us look 
up into our Father's face and trust Him, serve Him, 
believe Him, and, in due time, He will change our 
faith into glad fruition and place upon our heads the 
crown of life eternal. 

Did you ever try to consider that we could not do 
anything without faith .^ You know Chicago would 
not be standing here to-day, if it were not for faith. 
In forty-eight hours, I doubt not, every building 
in this great city would be razed to the ground, but 
for faith. There is not a single home in Chicago 
where there would not be ruin and sorrow within 
twenty-four hours if all faith should be suddenly taken 
away. If business men had no faith it would be im- 
possible to carry on trade. You see the merchant 
must have faith in his banker, and the banker must 
have faith in his depositors. In the professions, the 
teacher must have faith in his pupil, and the pupil 
must have faith in his teacher. The pupil takes a 
great deal for granted. Tell the little boy "oiice one 



92 FAITH 

is one, four times one is four'' — and so on. He does 
not understand it perhaps; but his teacher says it is 
so, and he accepts it accordingly. So Mr. Bailey was 
right when he said that "faith is a higher faculty 
than reason.'' Through faith we approach reason. 
The world could stand without reason, peihaps, but 
it could not stand without faith. 

Take it in the home; you know we must have 
domestic faith. The husband must have faith in the 
wife, and the wife in the husband, or else there can be 
no felicity there. The parent must have faith in his 
child, and the child in his parent. Faith makes the 
home happy. 

So we must have all these faiths— domestic faith, 
professional faith, business faith, and religious faith. 
Yes, we must have it; for the world could not run 
without it. Paul says, "We walk by faith," and he 
is right. Every step forward through life is a step 
of faith. Every turn on the highway of life is a turn 
of faith. When you take the train for a little trip, 
you have faith in the engineer, and you have faith 
in the conductor. You have faith that the ties are 
not rotten, and that the bridges are strong. So, in 
faith, you ride on safely to New York, or wherever you 
are going. When you put on your coat and hat, and 
umbrella in hand started to church this evening,you 
did not know but what some thief would jump out of 
a dark alley and kill you, but you did not think there 
was anybody foolish enough to molest you, as you 
knew very well that you left what little money you 
had at home! So you see you walked over here to the 
Tabernacle by faith, didn't you? Of course you did. 
So it is all through life. Paul never said a truer thing 
than that — "We walk by faith." Every step we take 
on the way from the cradle to the grave is taken by 
faith. Hence the great Apostle spake pertinently 



FAITH 93 

when he declared that "without faith it is impossible 
to please God.'^ If we cannot please each other with- 
out faith, much less can we please our Creator 
without that implicit confidence which He rightly de- 
mands. Then let us ever look up to him trustingly, 
with unfaltering confidence and complete self-surren- 
der, for this is that faith without which there is no 
justification. 

And now we come to the second division of our an- 
alysis to-night, How to get it. 

If we must have faith, if there is no salvation with- 
out it, then it is of great importance that we learn 
how to get it. Perhaps the best way to answer this 
question is to first tell how not to get it, — how we 
can't get it if we try — and then we can answer the 
question affirmatively in a more satisfactory manner. 
We have to come up on the negative side of these 
questions sometimes, I remember when I was a lit- 
tle boy, we had a splendid nag that was blind in one 
eye. She ran in a large pasture much of the time, 
and thus grew a little too wild for practical purposes. 
When we wanted to catch her we always had a time, 
for she preferred grazing to being ridden to town. It 
didn't make any difference how many pretty names 
we called her, nor how many bundles of oats we shook 
at her, she wouldn't come. I finally discovered a 
sure way to catch her. In my bare feet I would quietly 
but quickly slip up to her on the blind side, and then 
suddenly put the bridle on, when lo! Miss "Nellie*' 
was mine. That is the way we have to do with 
theology sometimes, approach it from the "blind 
side." 

There is much foolishness in modern theology on 
the question of faith-getting. I am persuaded that 
very much of what the preachers are telling the peo- 
ple on this subject is absolutely false. I do not say 



94 FAITH 

they do it willfully. Perhaps most of them do it ig- 
norantly. But at any rate it is done, and the cause 
of true religion is much retarded thereby. 

A man comes here and kneels down trastfully,say- 
ing, "I want to go to heaven. O! I want forgive- 
ness. What shall I do.^" The preacher says,"Pray, 
believe." "Well," says the sinner, "I have prayed; 
I do believe." "But," replies the bungling preacher, 
"you must believe more; pray for more faith." This 
is a common scene in many modern religious meet- 
ings. And yet the sinner is not com.manded to pray 
for faith. Let me tell you this; nowhere in the Divine 
Book, from Genesis to Revelation, does Jesus Christ 
or any of his apostles instruct the alien to pray for 
faith. And yet a great majority of the evangelists 
and pastors of this age do just that thing, and you 
know it. I presume that nine-tenths of the ministers 
in this city are guilty of this popular but unscriptural 
practice; the alien sinner says, "I haven't the faith I 
ought to have." To which the preacher replies, 
"Pray for it, Brother/' But the Bible don't say that. 
Ministers and prominent laymen pray, "O, Lord! send 
down faith into this poor sinner's heart." 

This reminds me of an incident which Professor 
Hutto related to me as occurring down in St. George, 
Kansas. At the mid-week prayer meeting one even- 
ing, an old lady who was very zealous in her church, 
but who didn't know any more than the excellent 
law^s of the "Sunflower State" allowed, made the fol- 
lowing striking appeal in her animated but not very 
scriptural prayer: — "O Lord, send down faith on a 
grain of mustard seed!" Now this is a true story, I 
don't give it as a fancy sketch, but as an actual oc- 
currence. It ludicrously illustrates the all-too-com- 
mon idea that faith comes in some mysterious man- 
ner. Too many people are waiting for the Lord to 



FAITH 95 

send down faith on a grain of mustard seed, or on 
an iron wedge that it may pry open their stony hearts. 
But the Lord doesn*t operate that way on the hearts 
of his children. If you are waiting for God to knock 
you down, tramp on you and pound faith into you, 
you will wait in vain, for the kind Heavenly Father 
does not resort to such extremes in order to get His 
children to believe. 

What is the use of conglomerating the truth on 
this very simple question.^ It is not only an inexcus- 
able but dangerous practice. I expect there are 
thousands of young men in Chicago who would be 
living Christian lives to-night if they had not been 
incorrectly taught on this great question. And there 
are doubtless thousands of middle-aged men spend- 
ing this very evening in the saloon, or around some 
gambling table, without God and without hope in the 
world, who would be at religious service if they had 
been taught right on this great question. It seems to 
be almost universally imagined that a man can't be- 
come a Christian unless God in some mysterious way 
works on his feelings, —"fingers around his heart," 
and independent of any personal effort, and in spite of 
everything above and beneath makes him surrender 
to the service of Jesus. This is an entirely unscrip- 
tural,and wholly mistaken theory. Man is a free moral 
agent and can receive or reject salvation just as he 
chooses. 

But ho7/ do we get faith? Instead of consulting 
some modern preacher or lay-worker, turn to 
Romans 10:17. Here we have the answer in very 
simple language. — ^*So then faith cometh by hearing, 
and hearing by the word of God.'' Paul, is that all 
there is to xV. Yes, that is all. The first thing a 
man has to do is to hear, and the thing he has to hear 
is the Word of God. Now, if he hears it unprej- 



96 FAITH 

udicedly he will conscientiously believe, and the mo- 
ment he believes, that moment he recognizes the Son 
of Mary as the Son of God and the world's only 
Saviour; and as Jesus is represented in the Bible as 
the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, he realizes that 
there is a judgment coming, and that he must get 
ready for that Great Day. 

Faith-getting is a comparatively simple matter. 
No man from the Day of Pentecost down to the present 
moment ever obtained faith without hearing the Word 
of God. It is our business, as Christians, to herald 
the good tidings of great joy to the utmost parts of 
the earth. It is not enough that we should simply 
pray that men may become believers. If faith comes 
miraculously, or in answer to prayer only, then why 
are not all the Hottentots in the world, and the Zulus, 
and the Patagonians, and the inhabitants of Central 
Africa, and all the rest of the world,— why are they 
not all believers? If it rests with the Lord alone to 
make them Christians, — why has He not attended to 
His duty? If the Lord sent faith to us miraculously 
and not to these others, is He not a partial God? 
Yet the Bible says, **He is no respecter of persons." 
Oh! let us be honest;let us be logical. "Faith cometh 
by hearing.'' And Paul says, "How shall they hear 
without a preacher?" So we send out somebody, and 
that somebody tells the people how the Lord lived, 
and how He died on the Cross, and how He rose 
from the dead, and how He sits to-day on the Right 
Hand of God, having been crowned King of Kings and 
Lord of Lords. When the individual hears the story, 
he believes it, if he is thoughtful, unprejudiced, and 
honest. That is the way the alien sinner gets faith. 
The Christian may pray, "Lord increase our faith!" 
But the alien has not this privilege until he learns 
to love and trust the Saviour. Men are never con- 



FAITH 97 

verted to Christ and His holy religion independent 
of human agency. When all professing Christians 
shall realize this, and then go to work in earnest, we 
will see more souls accepting the Divine Master than 
we ever yet have seen in the history of Christianity. 
It is all right to pray for the progress of the gospel; to 
pray God to throw about the individual converting in- 
fluences; and to pray that the Truth may run and be 
glorified in the community; but these prayers must 
be followed with proper endeavor on the part of the 
petitioner. It is right to pray, "Thy kingdom come, 
Thy will be done.'' But if we depend on God to con- 
vert the infidel without any effort on our part, we will 
wait until the last day of time. God says, "Ye are 
my servants; go, do what I tell you to do. Teach 
all nations." And not until the people are taught 

V^ILL faith get possession OF THEIR HEARTS ! 

We now come to the last question for the evening: 

WHAT SHALL W^E DO WITH IT.? 

If we believe God's Holy Word; if we accept 
this Great B^ok of Truth as inspired; if we 
believe that Jesus was indeed and in truth 
God's only begotten Son; if we believe in the 
Holy Spirit and His comforting power; and if we 
believe in the Church of Christ and its wholesome 
influence over humanity — if we really have such faith, 
what shall we do with it.? Shall we let it lie dormant 
in the heart? No. Yet that is what thousands are 
doing to-day. Faith of itself can't save. "Can't it?^' 
you say. No. "I thought it could." Did you.? Well, 
you have thought a good many things that weren't 
true, I expect. I have a little book in my study which 
says, "Wherefore, that we are justified by faith only, 
is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of com- 
fort. '* (M. E. Discipline, Page 20.) It is claimed 
that there are some four million people in the church 



98 FAITH 

which holds that doctrine. This doctrine of faith 
only, may be "wholesome'^ to the Methodists and 
others, but I can't see how it can be — what Professor 
Fairchild, of Kansas, calls "horse-sense.'^ The 
theory of "faith only" is taught in many of the 
churches of Chicago, and other great cities; but not 
one of the inspired apostles ever taught it. Many 
preachers and many lay-workers are saying to the 
poor alien sinner,"Only believe;" but the Holy Spirit 
never said anything of the kind. I am not very rich 
in this world's goods, but I will give $50.00 to any 
one who will show me where God ever, under the 
Christian Dispensation, promised to save anybody by 
"faith alone." James says, "Faith without works is 
dead." Why, if faith alone saves,then the devils them- 
selves are all right. For James, addressing the twelve 
tribes, says:— "Thou believest there is one God; thou 
doest well; the devils also believe and tremble." On 
one occasion, you remember, the demons cried out, 
"What have We to do with Thee, Jesus, thou Sen of 
God?" Did that save them? They acknowledged 
the Son of Mary to be the Son of God! But that was 
not enough. 

I venture the assertion that there are five hundred 
thousand believers in the City of Chicago who are 
still in an unsaved condition. Why? Because faith 
alone can't save them. Hence it is of great moment 
when you get this faith to decide what you are going 
to do with it. I do not draw any great distinction 
between the words "faith" and "belief." When Paul 
said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt 
be saved," he evidently meant by that word "believe" 
complete obedience, for we see the Philippian jailer 
putting on Christ in baptism the same hour of the 
night. So we draw no great distinction between 
"faith" and "belief," for both, as used by Paul, include 



FAITH 99 

a complete self-surrender of the individual to theLord. 
As used in James 2:19, however, the word "believe'' 
represents what may be termed merely an intellec- 
tual, or inactive attitude. In order to be saved, 
therefore, the believer must employ his faith in keep- 
ing all of the commandments given in God's Holy 
Law, And he must employ it consistently too. He 
must do just what God tells him to do, not in his own, 
but in God's way. That is "saving faith." 

The Bible is full of proofs on this point. We might 
quote Second Peter 1:5-8, "And besides this, giving 
all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue 
knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to 
temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; 
and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly 
kindness, charity. For if these things be in you, and 
abound, they make you that you shall neither be 
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord 
Jesus Christ/' You see we are to use faith by add- 
ing to it the doing of the things which God has com- 
manded Christians to do. 

Again we might read James 1:22, "But be ye 
doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving 
your own selves." And again, in John 14:15, Jesus, 
our blessed Master, says, "If ye love me, keep my 
commandments." And in Romans 12:1, Paul says,"I 
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of 
God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, 
holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable 
service." 

And so on. I might give you many more passages, 
but these will suffice to show us what we are to do 
with faith» We are to exercise it by doing just what 
God tells us to do in God's way — not my way, not 
your way, not some man's way, but God's way. And 
here it all hangs — taking God at his word; doing just 



lOO FAITH 

what he tells us to do and asking no questions; dis- 
charging every duty cheerfully and not parleying with 
the Lord. The true believer never says, "Lord, we 
won't do this, for it does not seem to us essential;" 
or, "We will just let this or that commandment go. 
We don't feel like keeping it, for it does not seem to 
us necessary." Oh, no! The true believer, without 
asking any unnecessary questions, or expressing any 
doubt, will go forward gladly and do everything God 
commands him to do. 

But oh, there are so many to-day who make the 
commandments of God null and void by their tradi- 
tions and ecclesiasticisms. Some, for instance, say 
that baptism is not essential to salvation. Others 
say that it makes no difference what religious name 
you wear, for there is nothing in a name anyway. Ah! 
The world is full of theories. 

"Well," says one, "what of it?" Much, very much. 
Our eternal inheritance depends upon our faithful 
obedience to the commandments of God. We must 
follow his directions implicitly or lose all. It is 
so in the affairs of this carnal life; why not in the 
spiritual.^ Let me illustrate: Suppose I say to Pro- 
fessor Hutto, "My Brother, I have concluded to 
make you a little present. I think a good deal of 
you and want to manifest my affection in a practical 
manner. And as we appreciate things more when 
we have to put forth an effort to get them, I will put 
you to a little trouble. I have buried away a thou- 
sand dollars in gold (I haven't dene it, so none of 
you need be alarmed. This is only an illustration.) I 
buried it due west of the railroad, just a half-mile 
from the track. If you will walk out there and turn 
north just two rods from the street, you will find an 
old cellar, in the southeast corner of which has 
sprung up a cotton-wood tree. Three feet west of 



FAITH lOl 



this tree I dug a hole three feet deep, and in the 
bottom deposited the money in an old coffee-pot. (I 
was afraid to put it in the bank, for fear the bank 
might break, and the cashier depart for Canada, so 
I thought I would just bury it out there.) Now, I 
will give you that money if you want it bad enough 
to go in person and get it. 

Well, of course he wants it, and promptly decides 
to go. He thinks of the m_any nice things he can 
buy with a thousand dollars — a long coat, patent 
leather shoes, a high hat, a bicycle, a type-writer, a 
kodak camera, a dogcart and horse. Oh, my ! he 
could buy lots of things with that thousand dollars. 

i say to him, "You believe me, Professor.?" 

"Yes." 

"I never have broken my word with you.?" 

"No." 

^^And you want the money.?" 

"Yes." 

"And you think you will find it if you follow my 
directions.?" 

"Yes, of course I will," he says — and shovel in 
hand he starts for the old cellar. 

And just half a mile from the railroad track 
he stops and inquires if there are any old cellars 
in that neighborhood. A laborer informs him 
that just ten rods north, there is one. 

"Has it a cotton-wood tree in one corner.?" 

"Yes." 

"And ten rods south," says the laborer, "there is 
another old cellar,and it happens that there is a cot- 
ton-wood tree in the corner of that one too." 

"Well," says the Professor, "I don't see that it 
makes any difference which cellar I dig in. Each 
has a cotton-wood tree, and the one on the south 
isn't quite as muddy as the one on the north." So 
he goes ten rods south and digs. 



102 FAITH 

Does he find the gold? Of course not. Why? 
Because he dug in the wrong cellar. So he comes 
back and says: 

"How is this, Brother Hall? I went out there 
half a mile, and ten rods from the street I dug in an 
old cellar under a cotton-wood tree, but there was no 
gold there. ^^ 

"Which side of the street?" 

"Well, I dug on the south side, I believe." 

"Didn't I tell you north? You go back and follow 
the directions implicitly." 

Thus a great many persons, when they are told by 
the Book of God to be baptized, are sprinkled, or 
poured, because that is a little easier. A preacher 
at Emporia, Kansas, told the people that it didn't 
make any difference whether they used much water 
or little. He declared that for baptismal purposes a 
quart was just as good as an ocean full, as it was bap- 
tism all the same. But either that preacher or the 
Apostle Peter is wrong. Which would you naturally 
suppose? 

Professor Hutto retraces his steps, goes ten rods 
north of the street and finds the old cellar, and there 
in the corner is the cotton-wood tree. 

"Well," he says,"he told me to go three feet west 
of the tree, but I don't see any necessity of going 
west; it is a very inconvenient place to dig. I guess 
I will dig right here three feet north." And he digs. 
He drives his shovel down one^ two, three feet. Does 
he find the money? Of course not. Why? Because 
he has failed to follow the directions. It is true that 
he went a half-mile from the railroad track, and then 
turned north ten rods, and then dug down three feet 
from the cotton-wood tree. He did just as much as he 
was told to do, but he did not do it in the right way. 
The Lord directs us to repent and be immersed. "But 



FAITH 103 

why not pour or sprinkle a little water on the head, 
it is so much handier ?'' Yes, that is it. That is what 
Brother Hutto thought when digging for his money, 
— It is easier. People are always trying to discover 
some easy way to heaven. Hence a4arge majority 
of church members are simply sprinkled or poured 
for baptism. But I say to you to-night before God, 
(and I shall stand before the judgment bar to give 
an account of my sermons, and you shall stand there 
too, to give an account for the way you have listened 
to and applied them) — I say in the love and fear 
of our Eternal Father that the man who is simply 
poured or sprinkled "^tor baptism has no promise of 
forgiveness! And so with human names, creeds, 
etc. Go contrary to God*s directions and there is no 
promise, no well-founded hope. If we want the re- 
ward we must do those things which bring the reward. 
When at last the Professor goes west of the tree 
three feet and digs down three feet he finds his gold. 
Why? Because he has done just what I told him to 
do, in the way I told him to do it. And so let me 
counsel you, if you believe in God, follow God's 
directions implicitly. Don't do any other thing. If 
He says belieive, why, believe. If He says repent, 
repent. If He says be baptized, why, obey Him. If 
He says add to your faith virtue, knowledge, temper- 
ance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and 
charity, do it. Don't say, "I can get along just as 
well without keeping God's laws strictly." You can't 
do it, my brother. Don't say this or that is non- 
essential. Remember, oh, do remember, that God 
never commanded a non-essential! Don't think that 
you can leave out anything that the Lord has com- 
manded and be saved. You cannot become a Chris- 
tian until you obey the commandments of God. You 
may become a member of some man-made church 



I04 FAITH 

without doing so, but not a member of God s church. 
The moment you obey the necessary command- 
ments, and not before, that moment you become a 
Christian, and a member of the body of Christ, and 
the Father acknowledges you as his child. And so I 
plead with you to-night to exercise your faith in doing 
just what God tells you to do. Oh, if you will, what 
joy will be ushered into the soul! What peace into 
the heart! With what happiness will your days be 
crowned! What exuberant hope v/ill take possession 
of your soul! Have faith, then, and use it. Trust God 
implicitly. Without asking any unnecessary questions 
just go forward and obey His commandments, and 
all will be well. 

"Have faith in God, He who reigns on high 
Hath borne thy grief and hears the suppliant's sigh; 
Still to his arms, thine only refuge, fly! 
Have faith in God. 

"Fear not to call on Him, O soul distressed, 
Thy sorrow's whisper wooes thee to His breast; 
He who is of tenest there is of tenest blest. 
Have faith in God. 

"Lean not on Egypt's reeds; slake not thy thirst 
At earthly cisterns. Seek the kingdom first. 
Though man and satan fright thee with their worst, 
Have faith in God. 
"Go, tell Him all! The sigh thy bosom heaves 
Is heard in heaven. Strength and peace He gives, 
Who gave himself for thee. Our Jesus lives; 
Have faith in God." 

{Anna Ship ton, ^ 

Ah! if you want the reward of the "just made per- 
fect," you must have faith in God. The Unitarian 
says, "We have faith in God, but we don't think 
Jesus Christ was divine; we think He was a good 
man, but not a God." But, my brother, you cannot 



FAITH 105 

please God unless you believe in His Son. "He that 
believeth on Him is not condemned; but he that be- 
lieveth not is condemned already*" John 3:18. You 
can't have forgiveness of sins, much less eternal life, 
unless you acknowlege Jesus to be the Christ. Uni- 
tarians have some fairly good scholars among them; 
but they reject much of God's Word, and deny the 
divinity of Christ. For all such there is absolutely 
no promise. 

Then have faith in God! "He so loved the world 
that He gave His only begotten Son.'' What a pre- 
cious gift! No wonder the Apostle Paul, gifted in 
speech though he was, calls it "the unspeakable gift," 
Oh, have faith in the Gift and the Giver alike, for they 
are one. Put your trust in Christ ! Walk implicitly 
ill his footsteps! Yield not to temptation, but yield 
lo Him who died for you! Consecrate your all to 
Him, for He alone is able to save! 

If there is one here to-night v/ho has faith, will 
3^ou not confess the Lord? Come, and the angels of 
God will rejoice. Come to-night, because all heaven 
and all earth are interested in your decision. Come, 
for God v^ho made you in His image wants to see you 
redeemed by His love! Come! 



REPENTANCE. 

Acts 3:19, "Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins 
may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the 
presence of the Lord." 

It is not the purpose of our Saviour to leave men 
in their sins, but to bring them out of their sins. It is 
not the purpose of our Heavenly Father to receive 
unto himself a single person so long as that person 
is in a state of sin. 

The Scriptures tell us that no impure thing shall 
pass within the Pearly Gates, — **There shall in no 
wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither 
whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie/^ 
No blasphemer, no traducer, no wicked man so long 
as he has a single sin unforgiven will be permitted to 
enter heaven. The New Jerusalem is a clean city, 
and will have none but clean citizens. Yes, heaven 
is made for pure men, pure women, and pure children; 
heaven is made for the redeemed, and for those who 
have never fallen, and for no others. The Godhead 
has never fallen, and the angels which surround the 
Throne have never fallen; but all other beings have 
fallen. Heaven is made for the redeemed, from 
among whom not a man, woman, or child need go up 
to the Bar of God with a single sin to answer for. 

"But,'' says one, "doesnH the Bible say all have 
sinned.?'' Yes, that is true. '*A11 have sinned and 
come short of the glory of God." But in another 
place the same apostle declares that "as in Adam all 
die, so in Christ shall all be made alive," If you 

JOS 



REPENTANCE I07 

get into Christ and stay in Christ and add to your 
idith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowl- 
edge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and 
to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly 
kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity; in short, 
if you observe all the Christian virtues, and live a 
true, prayerful, Christ-like life, there will be no 
trouble about your being permitted to enter that 
glorious abode and dwell forever. 

So the subject of Repentance is of very great im- 
portance, as no one can possibly goto heaven without 
it. A man may have great faith, and great love — 
love so great, so large, so full, so comprehensive in 
every way that he can just overlook all the injuries 
and persecutions that may be heaped upon him in life 
from enemies, and the misunderstandings of friends, 
— and still be lost; a man may be able to overlook the 
inconsistencies of professed Christians, and be chari- 
table to all, yet if he is not a repentant man he can- 
not be saved. Faith and love avail nothing without 
repentance. 

Let us cite a few passages of Scripture on this great 
subject. Notice first Acts 2:37,38: — "Now when 
they heard this they were pricked in their heart, and 
said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men 
aid brethren, what shall we do.?" and the first thing 
Peter said to them was, "Repent." 

Notice the words of the Master as recorded in Luke 
13:3: — " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. " 
According to this there is no possible salvation with- 
out repentance. Notice the declaration of Paul as 
recorded in Acts 17:30:— "The times of this ignor- 
ance God winked at, but now commandeth all men 
everywhere to repent." 

Clearly, then, there is no redemption for the un- 
repentant man. Naturally v/e inquire, therefore, 



I08 REPENTANCE 

"What is repentance?'^ if it is a matter of such 
tremendous importance.' Oh, then, for our soul's 
sake and for God's sake, let us have a plain definition 
of repentance. It is painful to contemplate, but none 
the less a fact, that the theological world has set 
thousands of minds adrift on this subject as well as 
on the subjects of faith, baptism, etc. Not a few relig- 
ious instructors seem to think that mere sorrow for 
sin is repentance, and teach, all too freely, this n.is- 
taken view. Suppose a man has been a drunkard for 
ten years, has ruined his health, brought disgrace 
upon his family, and the awful consequences of guilt 
upon his soul. He goes over to Mn Keeley and takes 
his medicine, pays him the necessary seventy-five or 
one hundred dollars, and returns home cured, and 
says, "I will never touch another drop. I am sorry 
that I have made such a fool of myself so long, and 
am determined to let liquor alone forever now.'^ Is 
that repentance? Specifically, Yes. Scripturally, 
No. So far as the liquor habit is concerned, Yes. 
So far as Jesus Christ is concerned, not at all. That 
man for years has been a curse to himself, to his 
family and to society. At last when he finds that 
he cannot live much longer if he continues to drink, 
he qaits. But what for? Why, for policy's sake; 
for the sake of a better standing in society, a better 
showing among his fellow men, and his ov.'n 
physical welfare, he stops drinkng. Thousands of 
men who have repented of the liquor habit are net 
repentant men Scripturally, Why? Because they 
do it in their own name and for their own sake. 

Repentance Scripturally is doing what we do in 
Christ's name and for Christ's sake. There are 
two words in the Greek which are translated "re- 
pent," one meaning a change either for the bet- 
ter or the worse, the other always meaning a change 



REPENTANCE IO9 

for the better. And the latter is used in the New 
Testament. Repentance, therefore^ implies a change 
for the bette7^ in the name of by the commandment of, 
and for the sake of Christ, It is inseparably allied 
with a change of heart. 

Now right here some one may say, "I always 
thought you Disciples did not believe in a change of 
heart." Did you? You thought unadvisedly then. 
Listen ! I know something about the Christian 
Church and its belief. My father and mother, and 
my grand-parents, were Disciples long before I was 
born. I know many of our leading ministers through- 
out the United States. Was educated in one of our 
best universities. Have read our leading periodicals 
for years. And I declare emphatically that there is 
7iot a single minister among us — (and we have about 
six thousand of them) who does not believe in 
and teach a change of heart! But we do not think 
a change of heart to be anything miraculous or super- 
natural at all. It is simply a change of motive, a 
change of desire, a change of determination, a change 
of resolution; in short a complete change of life. 
And this change is not brought about by any myste- 
rious working of the Holy Spirit on our mental facul- 
ties. No, no. There is nothing supernatural about 
it. But just as natural as it is for grass to grow, so 
natural is it for man to have a change of heart if he 
takes God at His Word. That repentance which in- 
volves a change of heart means a complete change of 
life, a complete surrender of self to the Master, a 
complete laying of our all at the feet of Jesus. And 
all this is brought about by an intelligent obedience 
to the precepts of the gospel. And this we do, not for 
our own sake merely; not merely for the sake of 
family, or friends, or society, or any v;orldly oppor- 
tunity, or ambition; but for Christ's sake, — because 
we love Him and are willing to trust Him. 



no REPENTANCE 

There are three prominent elements in every gen- 
uine, heartfelt repentance: 

First of all, Sorrow for sin. Right here a great 
many stop. They seem to think that if they cry a lit- 
tle they have repented; that the Lord will forgive 
them jast as soon as they let a few hot tears fall. 
And if they cry real hard, they are reported as soundly 
converted! Nowadays the preacher often declaims 
a few pathetic stories in his sermon, and then asks, 
— "How many want to go to heaven.?" And possibly 
forty or fifty will put up their hands, or arise, or kneel 
at the "altar," and after a few prayers and stirring 
songs, many are reported to have "gotten through," 
and the people sing "Praise God!" It is not wrong, 
of course, to praise God for good promises, and good 
resolutions on the part of an alien sinner; but it is 
all a mistake to call these repentance. Sorrow alone 
is not the sum total of conversion by a great deal. 

In many old-fashioned meetings, you remember, 
sorrowing sinners would kneel at the "mourner's 
bench," and under the influence of some magnetic 
exhorter the tears would stream down their cheeks 
till it would seem they must have stood in puddles 
on the floor, while they prayed in sobbing tones, "Oh, 
Lord, have mercy! Saviour, help! Come right now 
and forgive!" I do not believe in such revivals, so- 
called. "Distracted meeting" would be a better term. 
They have driven many individuals into skepticism. 

Don't imagine that you have repented just because 
you have bellowed a little. You might find yourself 
greatly mistaken at the Day of Judgment. I want to 
speak plainly on these things, for I fear thousands of 
precious souls have been led astray, and left to drift 
on in sin, by just such earnest but fearfully unscrip- 
tural practices as I have here described. Sorrow 
alone cannot save you; prayers alone cannot avail. 



REPENTANCE III 

Your motive may be all right, but God wants more 
than good intentions. God has nowhere promised to 
forgive you just because you feel bad. Far be it from 
me, for a moment, however, to ridicule tears. No, 
no. r would to God that every young man in Chicago 
could be brought to shed tears, and bitter ones too, 
over his sins, his wickedness, his forgetfulness of God 
and mother. Sorrow is all right so far as it goes, 
but it constitutes only one element in repentance. A 
man can't repent without feeling sorry; but this is only 
the first step in true penitence. 

The second element is, ^ determination to quit sin, 
A man says: "Here, I have been living a wicked 
life; I am sorry. Have been squandering my money, 
time, mental faculties, and physical powers. Have 
been squandering everything that is precious in the 
sight of my Maker, and I do regret it most sincerely. 
Now I have, determined that I will quit. I will turn 
over a new leaf; I am resolved to be better. *' Here 
we have the second element of Scriptural repentance, 
a determination to do better; an earnest, heartfelt 
resolution to do what is right in the future, and to do 
it, too, in the name of Christ. Here is where thou- 
sands stop. Many a sinner regrets his waywardness 
very keenly, but loves his sin too much to give it up. 

The third element of repentance is Action! Sorrow- 
stricken because of his weight of guilt, but hopeful 
through his new-born resolution, the sinner says, "I 
will quit! For Christ's sake I will do better." So 
suiting the action to the word, he quits. Then, and 
not till then, has he repented. Sam Jones' advice to 
sinners is, "Quit your meanness!" This is the bur- 
den of his sermons wherever he goes,— "Quit your 
meanness!" Good advice. It would be a wholesome 
thing if we could have that motto printed in bold 
letters and swung up over every counter in the land. 



112 REPENTANCE 

You know that in many places they say, "Here, we 
sell you all-wool goods a yard wide/'' But when 
you get home and examine your purchase carefully 
you find that it is only seven-eighths wide, and it is 
half cotton! It would prevent lots of cheating if this 
motto could be swung up over the counter where we 
buy sugar. "Best in the market, '^affirms the grocer; 
but when you get home and attempt to use it, you 
find that it is one fourth fine white sand! Quit your 
meanness! You go to the meat-shop and call for a 
pound of sirloin, and while you are looking up at the 
scales to see that the butcher weighs it right he 
weighs his hand three ounces. I have heard of 
butchers doing that. I presume there are few so reck- 
less, but those few ought to quit their meanness! 
This is certainly a great doctrine. It is the crown- 
ing element of repentance. To quit one's meanness 
for Christ's sake is a noble thing. But it is nobler 
still when you quit to stay quit. That's what the 
world needs, — men who will quit their meanness for- 
ever! Not for a day, or a week, or a month, or a 
year; not during the revival merely; not until the 
watermelon season ; but forever. We need more 
ever-blooming Christians, — -those who will work at the 
business all through the spring, the summer, the fall, 
and the winter months. Going to heaven is a life- 
job; and the Lord wants his soldiers to "enlist for the 
war." Of course it is pretty hard work for a man to 
be a good Christian in the spring of the year. (I ex- 
pect your experience and mine tally.) These warm, 
lazy nights we feel like anything but going to prayer 
meeting; anything but going to morning and evening 
service on the bright Lord's day, so suggestive of the 
cool park; anything but being real religious. It is 
hard work. But I'm glad of it, for there would be lit- 
tle honor in going to heaven if it did not call forth 



REPENTANCE II3 

noblest efforts. Quit your meanness, then, friendly 
sinner, and quit forever. Then trust the Master and 
he will lead you. Down in the valley, up on the 
mountain, out through the green pastures of peace 
and prosperity, — wherever you go He will lead you 
by His gentle hand, and shield you from the darts of 
sin! 

First, then, a keen sorrow for sin. Second, a de- 
termination to quit sin. And third, suiting the action 
to the word, — quitting once for all. This is true 
repentance. It is the kind of repentance Peter de- 
manded of the Jews on the Day of Pentecost when 
three thousand were added to the church. It is the 
kind that the apostles demanded everywhere, and it 
is the kind Jesus Christ expects of you. 

Repentance is needed in Chicago. It is needed the 
world over. Not a half-way and half-hearted repent- 
ance, but the complete article; not a mere beginning, 
but a genuine quitting of sin because Christ has com- 
manded it. 

Let me give you some examples from the Word, 
illustrative of true repentance. There are many, but 
I will select only two, one from the Old Testament 
and one from the New. 

Take first the case of Jonah and the Nine- 
vites. The Lord said to Jonah, ^4 want you 
to go over and preach to the Ninevites. I have 
a great work for you there. I want you to go to that 
great city and preach and tell those wicked people 
that Jehovah wants them to repent, —to quit their 
meanness; and that if they don't he will speedily cut 
them off from the face of the earth." But Jonah, who 
lived in the land of Judea, did not want to go. He 
was very well contented where he was, and didn't 
want to borrow any trouble about the Ninevites — he 
didn't have any hankering after a city charge! I have 
sometimes thought it strange that Jonah did not want 



114 REPENTANCE 

to go and take a city pulpit. How different from 
preachers of the present generation! You might 
hunt from the icy plains of Manitoba to the evergreen 
glades of Florida, and from the rock-bound coast of 
the Atlantic to the sunny slopes of the Pacific to-day 
and not find a single preacher who wouldn't be glad 
to capture a city pulpit! Nothing like being a city 
preacher. But Jonah didn't want any city "in his/' 
and so he tried hard to get away. I expect he said 
to himself, ".Now I don't want to go to Nineveh. 
Really I am not fitted for that work The Lord can 
certainly find somebody that will do it better.'^ 

Some of you do that way when your pastor comes 
to you and says, "I want you to do some personal 
work." You say, "Oh, go to that brother or that 
sister; they can do it so much better." I fear it is 
only a pious way some of you have of shirking duty. 

But the Lord said to Jonah, "I want you to go." 
Jonah, however, secretly decided that he wouldn't 
go, but that he would get out of the way. So he took 
a ship down at Joppa and started for far-off Spain. 
He was determined to draw the line at city mis- 
sions, and I suppose he never would have gone to 
Nineveh if the Lord hadit' t whaled him! 

Well, we can't blame Jonah much for not wanting 
to go. It was a difficult thing in those days to go six 
hundred miles across the country. The people had 
no palace-cars to ride in, for lightning express trains 
with Pullman coaches did not come into use for over 
2, 500 years after his death. He didn't have the 
luxury of our old-fashioned stage-coach. And in 
truth I don't know that he had even a camel-back 
transportation. He probably went on foot. His 
route ran through a m.ountainous region where he 
must ever be on the lookout for thieves and robbers. 
It probably took him three months to make that ar- 



REPENTANCE II5 

duous journey. And the task was all the more difficult 
because it wasn't a task of love, but he went because 
he had to,.\\^ didn't want any more difficulty with 
the Lord. 

The population of Nineveh is not certainly known. 
Historians are not agreed concerning the number of 
inhabitants in prominent cities of ancient times. But 
there were probably about one million souls in Nine- 
veh. It was a great city, but full of lust, passion, 
evil appetite, and wickedness of every form known 
to the people of those simple days. There was pos- 
sibly not a single devout person in the city! Then, 
imagine one poor, weak little prophet preaching to 
that awful mass of moral corruption the duty of re- 
pentance! But that was Jonah's task, and once at 
it well did he perform it. '*Yet forty days, and Nine- 
veh shall be overthrown,'' he cried. I imagine there 
was a great deal of sport made over the message 
at first. Some of the people probably said, "Ho, ho! 
there is a new man come to town, preaching some- 
thing new under the sun. He tells us that if we 
don't repent his Lord is going to wipe us all out." 
And they laughed and laughed. It was so rich. The 
biggest ha-ha's went up at various street corners, 
and motley crowds collected here and there to see 
who could say the wittiest thing about the matter. 
If there had been any daily newspapers in those days, 
I expect they would have had full reports under such 
startling headlines as, "A crank in town! Preaching 
Repentance ! Nineveh to be destroyed !" And all the 
Board of Trade men, merchants, artisans, and huck- 
sters, would have read it with a smile of curiosity and 
passed on. If a man preaches a good, old-fashioned 
scriptural hell nowadays, there are many to pity 
• him for being so far behind the times. There are lots 
of people who don't believe in hell because they don,t 



Il6 REPENTANCE 

want to. // would hurt their business! I don't sup- 
pose there is a saloon-keeper in Chicago who has a 
good healthy belief in hell> — ^it would unnerve him 
for his business. I suppose there is not a single 
adulterer in Chicago that has a well-developed belief 
in hell. I suppose the average young man who swears 
and gambles and carouses around seven nights in the 
week admiresthe Universalist's doctrine of "no hell," 
because it would be so unpleasant for him, when he 
is so fortunate as to get sober for a day, to think that 
there is a place of punishm.ent awaiting the wicked. 
Oh, no! the world don't want to believe in hell. It 
don't want to be told of its meanness. It wants us 
preachers to talk eloquently about its great improve- 
ments, its noble m^n, its brilliant prospects, etc. It 
wants us to pat it on the back and say, "Good World; 
Fine World; All-Go-To-Heaven World, Amen!" But 
that kind of preaching can never save a dying race. 
So, I suppose when Jonah commenced to preach 
the wicked Ninevites laughed. But he didn't care. 
He was now thoroughly aroused, and undoubtedly 
spoke with no uncertain meaning. I expect he said, 
"You have been trampling God's laws underfoot; you 
are a pack of shameless sinners; your city is a great 
moral cancer. And if you don't repent — if you don't 
get sorry and resolve to do better, and then carry out 
your resolution, the Lord will punish every last one 
of you!" He had no fine pulpit with a pipe organ to 
back him. He preached on the street. His audience 
may have been very small at first. But one would 
hear him and tell somebody else; and they in turn, 
would tell others (that's the way to build up a 
crowd). I have no doubt there were many who said, 
"I don't like the fellow at all." One said, "I don't 
like his manner." Another said, "I don't like his 
diction." And still another said, "I don't like the 



REPENTANCE llj 

way he dresses; don't you go to hear him; catch me 
going there again! No, not much; why, he uses slang! 
And he says such hard things; oh, no; I would 
advise you not to go to hear him." But that only 
makes the other fellow more anxious to hear, and the 
prophet soon had a vast attendance upon his services. 
Finally three or four believed, and soon a mighty in- 
terest in the message from God swept over the pop- 
ulace. I expect that one of the king's courtiers hap- 
pened along one day, and, being much moved by the 
burning words of the preacher, hastened to the palace 
and told his master all about it. The old monarch 
became interested and commanded his servants to 
take him out in state to hear the strange messenger. 
I suppose that Jonah **had his spunk up'' in earnest 
by this time. He was not willing to go to Nineveh 
at first, but now that he was in it he would do his 
best. I admire Jonah's "spunk." He undoubtedly 
knew that this rich and high-toned hearer preferred 
sugar-coated pills of truth, homeopathic at that; but 
he wasn't sent there to try to tickle the ears of any 
certain class. So I imagine that when he saw the 
king drive up in his splendid equipage he shouted, 
"Ah, ha! old king, you make a fine display, but in 
truth you are a mean, wicked old sinner like all the 
rest, and if you don't repent the Lord will cut you off 
in your wickedness. Yet forty-days and your city 
v/ill be overthrown!" 

Jonah did not use any mock modesty. Excessive 
politeness is one of the common sins among people 
who lack backbone. If the speaker uses a very 
common United States word, some ever-fastidious 
soul is ready to apply that ugly word, Slang. No 
matter how well the word or expression illustrates 
his point, it is considered all Vv^rong. It is simply 
ridiculous, this mock modesty. We all live in glass 



Il8 REPENTANCE 

houses when it comes to the use of language. And 
yet I have had these would-be guardians of the king's 
English Vv^rite me anonymous letters suggesting 
what to preach and how to preach it- — criticising a 
course which, under God, has alv/ays been successful 
so far, and proposing another which is yet to be 
tried. And then after belaboring me in no commend- 
able spirit, they have signed themselves, "Your 
Friend!" Friend nothing! I could take a horse- 
hair, and punching the pith out of it, put a dozen such 
friends (\) in the hole! 

I suppose Jonah said, '4 would not give a snap of 
my finger for all your grandeur. Your whole king- 
dom is not worth a farthing unless you quit your 
meanness." Ah, yes! You may be rich, and have 
a fine residence, with many servants! — but if you 
don't get down on your knees and pour out your soul 
in penitence before God for past sins, He will destroy 
you. The soul of the saloon-keeper, and of the poor 
waif that sleeps in the garret, is as precious in the 
sight of God as the soul of the rich millionaire. And 
the one is just as obnoxious as the other if steeped 
in wickedness. 

Jonah was no respecter of persons. The king 
heard him thoughtfully and said, '^That is true. I 
am sorry to say that I have been a very sinful man. 
But I am now determined to quit my m.eanness." And 
then suiting the action to the word, he arose from his 
seat of dignity, and, laying aside his rich robes, cov- 
ered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And 
then it wasn't long, I suppose, till all the big men of 
the city, and the high-toned society people began to 
repent also. It is a good thing to have a prominent 
man converted if he only remains true to the sacred 
cause he espouses. Prominent men have much in- 
fluence. But many of them do not use their influ- 



REPENTANCE II9 

ence to the glory of God. I am glad for one that 
there is a final judgment; am glad that prominent 
men who use their great influence for the world, the 
flesh, and the devil will be held responsible. And if 
there is any difference in degrees of punishment such 
men will be punished worse in the last day than the 
poor, untutored, and un-influential sinner. 

Jonah cried, "Repent, repent! Yet forty days and 
Nineveh shall be destroyed — forty days of grace, and 
if you don't quit your meaimess Nineveh will m.ost 
certainly be destroyed !'* If I had divine authority to 
say to-night, "Forty days and Chicago will be de- 
stroyed!'' and then to-morrow night, "Only thirty- 
nine days more and Chicago v/ill be destroyed!" and 
then Sunday, "Only thirty-seven days more," — and 
so on, it would not be many days down to "Only one 
day more and Chicago will be destroyed," and the 
people would turn to the Lord by thousands and tens 
of thousands. Yes, if I had the divine authority to say 
that this great sale of souls will continue only ten 
days more, it would not be long until this large tab- 
ernacle would be too small to hold the people who 
were anxious to get away from Satan, the hard task- 
master, and come to Christ. But, dear friends, I do 
not know that we will have forty days of grace. We 
may not, and yet we may have several thousand 
days. But I do know this; that unless we repent, 
and, figuratively speaking, cover ourselves with sack- 
cloth, and sit in ashes, we must all perish forever. 

In order to get the subject before your minds still 
more clearly and forcibly allow me to take one illus- 
tration from the New Testament — the story of the 
Prodigal Son — which Mr.Talmage,I believe, calls the 
prince of parables. I will modernize the story some- 
what, hoping thereby to make the lesson more im- 
pressive. 



I20 REPENTANCE 

There was a rich man who had two sons. We will 
call one Henry and the other John. Henry had at- 
tained unto his majority, and thought a great deal of 
his father and mother. He didn't care to marry any 
of the girls in the neighborhood, but kept right on 
faithfully attending to his father's property, knowing 
that after a while it would all be divided between 
himself and brother. Now John, the younger of the 
two heirs, was of a very different disposition; he was 
a little wild and careless, anxious to do something 
new and different. He didn't like the quiet humdrum 
of the old neighborhood. So one day he said, "Father, 
give m.e my portion, and I Vv^ill go out and do for rny- 
self." "Oh, noP' said his kind old father, "I would 
rather you would stay here, John. Mother and I are 
getting old now, and soon everything we have will be 
yours and Henry's. You had better stay at the old 
home, my boy.'^ ^''No," said John, "I feel that I must 
get away. My ambition is too great for this sleepy 
old community. Better give me my portion. Father, 
and let me go " The father at last consented, and 
gave the thoughtless youth his part of the property. 
He had a herd of cattle, I suppose, and a flock of 
sheep, and a lot of servants, and quite a sum of money. 
Thus equipped he started for a far country, perhaps 
soliloquizing, "I want to get as far away as possible 
from the old home. Can't accomplish anything 
hanging around here." I presume he waved his hand 
and shouted gleefully, "Good-bye, Father; good-bye, 
Mother! I will write to you when I have time." That 
is doubtless about the way he took his departure 
from father and mother and brother. 

They looked anxiously for the promised messages, 
but they came few and far between. The letters 
were sometimes two weeks, sometimes three weeks, 
and sometimes six weeks in coming, and then were 



REPENTANCE 121 

very short and hurried. Oh, young man, when you 
go away from the old home to do for yourself, don't 
forget to write to father and mother. No matter how* 
far from the old fireside you may roam, their hearts 
will beat on in tender affection for you. Don't neg- 
lect to write home. It is a sacred duty. Never let 
seven days pass over your head without sending some 
message, if it is only a dozen words, to the dear ones 
left behind. 

John went out to a distant country where there 
was good pasturage and a good market for his stock. 
He settled down and commenced doing business, and 
for the first few months everything went prosperously. 
Then temptations came. He was introduced into 
the so-called "best society" (which is often the worst 
for one's morals). Anxious mothers began to look 
with wistful eyes upon this splendid young man as a 
good "catch" for their daughters, and divers young 
ladies were "setting their caps" for this rich young 
lord from Judea. He was soon not only on the top 
wave in the social swim, but a "hail fellow well met" 
with the fast young bloods of the city. 

One day as he was passing along the street, some 
of his friends hailed him and said, "John, come in and 
have a drink with us." But he replied, "No, boys, I 
don't drink." "Well, then, come in and have a 
cigar." "No, I don't smoke either," "Ah, come on 
now, be a man!" Thus by appeals to vanity and 
undue persuasion, many would-be friends cause the 
ruin of thousands of young men. John finally went 
in and took a cigar. After chatting awhile he said he 
must be going on, but promised to drop in and smoke 
with them another evening. The boys kept on the 
watch for him, and in another day or two called out 
as he was passing by, "John, come in and have that 
cigar." "All right, fellows, I don't care if I do." He 



122 REPENTANCE 

went in and happened to sit down beside a little un- 
suspicious looking table while smoking. It was a gam- 
ing table, but as John had been well raised he knew 
nothing about cards. However, he looked on, and 
when the game was opened he was asked to "take a 
hand." "No," he said, "I don't know one caid from 
another." "Oh, we don't believe that!" chimed in 
the shrewd players. "You need not pretend to us 
that you are a good little Sunday School boy and 
don't kown one card from another." This was too 
much. He grew desperate, and taking up the cards 
he deceitfully remarked, "It has been some time since 
I played — am a little rusty." He w^as not long in 
learning the game. Then one night he took a glass 
of beer, so as not to be boorish, and after a while he 
took two or three glasses. He soon became a pretty 
good player, and then his shrewd tempter proposed 
to play for money. But John said, "Oh, no, boys! 
I never play for money." "Oh well, we will play for 
the cigars, then." He yielded, and a few nights after 
they played for the drinks, and he won. Finally they 
permitted him to play for just a few cents, and then 
for five dollars. John said to himself, "I don't be- 
lieve this is exactly right." But he won, and so be- 
gan to think he was a pretty fine player. 

That is the way thousands of young men start 
down. I don't speak from experience, for I never 
played a game of euchre, or whist, or poker in my 
life; I never smoked a cigar in my life; and I never 
tasted liquor in my life. I speak simply from obser- 
vation, and from a somewhat extended acquaintance 
with books and newspapers. I will leave those of 
you who have had experience to say whether this 
modern picture of the prodigal son is not a very 
truthful representation of the course that is being 
taken by thousands of young men to-night. You 



REPENTAMCE I23 

know it is just the way hundreds of young men in 
Chicago are traveling this very moment! 

So they commenced playing for m_oney. They let 
him have a few games, and then they began to win. 
That made him angry, and he said to himself,"! will 
show you fellows how to play." He put up a large 
stake. But to his amazement and utter chagrin they 
won that from him also. Then he grew desperate, 
and began to bet larger and larger amounts. 

I read of a man some time ago who owned a fine 
saloon in Denver. He was estimated to be worth a 
good hundred thousand dollars. He walked into his 
place of business one night, and, seeing an interesting 
game in progress at one of his tables, thought he 
would "take a hand'^ in it. He threw down a bill, 
and to his amazement the other fellows won it. He 
threw down two or three larger bills, and they took 
them also. Then he was mad, and taking a great 
roll of money out of his pocket threw it on the table, 
rolled up his sleeves, and sat down to "show them 
how to play." But in a few brief hours that proud 
gambler left what had until that fatal occasion been 
his own saloon a beggar^ — he had lost a hundred 
thousand dollars in one brief night, to say nothing 
of his soul. 

Years ago a young man started to Arkansas, with 
some nine hundred dollars in his possession, the sav- 
ings from several years honest toil. He was going 
to the hot springs for his health. On the way he 
was delayed at a certain place, and while waiting at a 
hotel was induced to play for money. He won a neat 
little sum and retired. About this time a stranded 
sport threw down a button and said, "I will bet that 
against a quarter." Some one played with him and 
lost. Another then bet a half dollar with him and 
lost. Pretty soon the now lucky gambler had won 



124 REPENTANCE 

three or four dollars. The young man who had retired 
was not satisfied to have matters going so. He said 
to himself, "I will just get up and win that," So he 
arose and dressed and started in to win a btttton! 
That is all he would have gotten, just a cheap little 
button. But his luck had departed from him, and 
before morning he had lost his nine hundred dollars. 
He was compelled to make his way home without the 
button, without his money, without having regained 
his health, and, worst of all, without his manhood. 

Thieves and murderers and bank-robbers and all 
sorts of evil-doers often get their first lessons at the 
gaming table. And yet many professed Christians 
play cards, and teach their children to do likewise. 

This young Jew wagered away his possessions^ — his 
horses, his flocks, his herds, his all. I suppose that 
everything went — his land, his bank-stock, and pos- 
sibly even his clothes. (Going down the Mississippi 
on a steamer in the days of slavery, a colored fire- 
man once gambled until he had lost all of his money' 
and all his clothes, and finally in sheer desperation he 
bet his own freedom. Yes, he put up his papers of 
freedom, bet them and lost, and was taken to the 
auction block and sold into slavery again.) It is said 
of the poor prodigal that "he wasted his substance 
in riotous living." Then, I suppose, he was cast out 
from society. No more anxious mothers looked upon 
him as a fit "match" for their daughters. No more 
ladies "set their caps" for him. When his money was 
gone they had no further use for him, and so practi- 
cally kicked hUn out. That's the way the world does. 

I was hurrying along the streets of Des Moines, 
Iowa, one afternoon years ago when I was reporting 
for an evening newspaper, when suddenly my atten- 
tion was called to a crowd in front of a corner saloon. 
I lost no time in joining them, anxious for any item 



REPENTANCE 1 25 

of interest for my paper. I saw a large, finely built 
man lying there on the stone sidewalk, his face all 
bleedingo As nearly as I could learn the particulars 
from the bystanders he had wanted more drink, but 
his supply of money having become exhausted the 
saloon-keeper had kicked him out, and there he lay 
in a pitiful condition. What must his poor, miserable 
wife, and wretched, school-less children have thought 
of him? Oh, friends, there is much sorrow in this world 
—much sin. From sin comes dissipation, and trouble, 
and ruin. 

After this young prodigal had spent all, he soon 
found himself in sore want for the very necessities of 
life, and was finally com.pelled to join himself to a 
citizen of that country who sent him into the fields 
to tend swine, and you know a Jew detested the oc- 
cupation of swine-herd. But it was that or starve. 
I presume some cf his old-time associates passing by 
exclaimed, "Ah! young man, you used to fly pretty 
high, but we observe that you have come down a few 
pegs. Good enough for you." And so they jeered at 
him, taunted him, and turned their heads away in 
derision. While discharging his humiliating duties, he 
got to thinking about his checkered career. He 
thought the whole matter over, and the Record says, 
"He came to himself.'' There is a world of meaning in 
that sentence,"HE came to himself." He m.editated 
upon what a good chance he had had, — how he had 
worried his old father, and squandered the property 
which he had given him. He thought about his kind- 
faced old mother, and how she had borne with him in 
childhood and youth. He grew very sorry and said, "I 
will arise and go to my father. I am sorry I have been 
so mean; I will be better in the future." And suiting 
the action to the word he arose and traveled that 
long road back to the old home. 



126 REPENTANCE 

In my mind's eye I can see him coming up over the 
hill after a long, tedious journey; foot-sere, clothing 
in rags, beard long-grown, eyes sunken — a humble, 
crest-fallen, homesick man. With what joy he spies 
the old gate, and the two Cottonwood trees! "Just the 
same as when I left five years ago! And there is the 
well, and the sweep, and the old oaken bucket! And 
yonder in the pasture are the cattle, and in the lot 
hard by the horses are at play! And there is the old- 
fashioned house — Home! And is that mother there 
on the stoop?" When he saw and thought of mother, 
tears started, the fountains of affection so long pent 
up were opened at last and great hot tears rolled 
down his hardened cheeks. "Is it possible that I see 
mother } Oh, I am not fit to go back there ! But I have 
no other place to go. If father will just make me one 
of his hired servants — if he will just let me serve — '^ 
— with these thoughts he started down the hilL Just 
then I imagine the father looked out of the window, 
and seeing the footman approaching, said, "Mother, 
come here! Don't that man walk like our John? 
See?'' And mother, taking her apron, wiped her 
glasses, and, looking earnestly, said,"I believe he does 
walk like our John!" And when she thought of John 
the big tears began to fall, and she said, "Maybe that 
is John coming home." Oh, if she could just see 
John. She didn't care whether John was a prodigal 
or not, if she could only have him once more at the 
old hearth-stone. So they looked, and he came 
nearer and nearer. At last they knew of a surety, 
that it was John. He came slowly up the steps, and 
knocked at the door. 

Did the old gentleman go to the door? 
No! He sat down in his easy chair, elevated 
his feet, and leisurely proceeded to look over 
the stock reports in his evening paper. His weary, 
«in-«ick son knocked again; but the old gentleman 



REPENTANCE I27 

didn't stir. Mother said, "May I not open the door, 
father?" But he said, "No. I will attend to this 
little matter myself," John knocked again and again, 
and when nobody came to the door one of the ser- 
vants looked round the corner and said, "The old gen- 
tleman is in there. Maybe he don't hear you. Bet- 
ter knock again; he has grown a little hard of hearing 
lately." So he kept on knocking — ^his heart so heavy 
and sad. Finally the old gentleman opened the door 
and excitedly exclaimed, "Ah, you have come back 
at last, have you.^ Want in the house, do you.? Well, 
you just go round the house and stay in the wood- 
shed six months and then you may come in!" 

Did he say that? No! Did he say, "I will call 
the family together and take a vote on you and see if 
they all think you are fit to come in?" No! Did he 
say, "Wait until next covenant day and we will let 
you in?" No! He did not say anything about "six 
months' suspicion,'*'^ or a "good moral character," or 
a "Christian experience." All this would have been 
the sheerest nonsense, not to say inexcusable mean- 
ness. And yet that is the way the theological world 
of the nineteenth century talks to inquiring sinners! 
But God never talked so. 

No! There is no six months' probation, no voting 
on members, no putting off till the next session, etc., 
in the Bible. Three thousand were added to the 
church the same day, (Acts 2:41.) 

So when his kind old father saw John coming, he 
ran out of the door, and down the steps, and through 
the gate as fast as his age would permit; and as John 
came up he threw his arms around him, fell upon his 
breast, and wept great hot tears of joy. "Oh, — John 
— my son," he sobbed, "how glad we are — so glad 
.you have come back home!" And John wept too, 
leaning on his old father's shoulder. "Father," he 



128 REPENTANCE 

said, "I am no more worthy to be your son; let me be 
a servant." '*No, my boy, never! We are too glad 
to have you back. Let by-gones be by-gones. Come 
in, for mother is waiting anxiously for you." And John 
was told to throw off his old rags, and put on clean 
new garments. And they put a ring on his finger, 
and killed the fatted calf,-and had a joyful time,"Fcr," 
said they, "the lost is found," and "the dead is made 
alive again." 

Oh, the joy in that home where the lost are found! 
Dear lost friend, if you are sorry to-night, and like 
the prodigal can say, "I have determined to quit my 
meanness and quit right now;" and if you can come 
down this aisle and stand before the world and say, 
"I believe with all my heart that Jesus Christ is the 
Son of God, and am willing, with all my heart and 
soul and strength to accept him as my personal Sav- 
iour, lovingly, heartily, sincerely and forever" — if you 
can do this there will be a glorious welcome for you 
in your Heavenly Father's House. God will take 
off your garments of wickedness and self-righteous- 
ness and put on you the new garments of forgiveness 
and love and peace. He will not let you be a servant 
of wickedness, but make you His heir and son. John 
said, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God." Oh, 
what a wonderful privilege to be a "child of the 
King!" What a wonderful privilege to become the 
recipient of that eternal life promised to the just 
made perfect! 

Oh, then, come to-night, dear friend! Come with 
penitent heart and obey the Lord, and He will put in 
your mouth a new song; in your soul a new hope. He 
will fill your soul with that eternal peace which 
passeth all understanding. Repent now! Change 
for the better! You have been living a life of sin, 
but turn about face, to-night! Say, "Begone, Satan, 



REPENTANCE 129 

get thee behind me; Lord Jesus, take possession of 
my soul!" Come, and the angels will tune their gol- 
den harps anew and sweep o'er and o'er again their 
melodious strings with the glad songs of redeeming 
love. "There is joy in Heaven over one sinner that 
repenteth." Oh, then, come now and let the news go 
home to glory that another lost soul is found, another 
dead heart is made alive again ! 



CONFESSION. 

"For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; sno wi^n 
the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Rom. ko:tz. 

Confession, along with faith and repentance, is one 
step in conversion. It is, therefore, a subject of great 
importance. 

Our people have been often and justly accused of 
preaching "faith, repentance and baptism." I am 
sorry the accusation does not include one item more. 
It ought to be said of us that we are a great folk to 
predich fai^ky repentance ^confessions and baptism. It 
is true that we cannot be saved without faith; it is 
true that we cannot be saved without repentance; and 
it is just as true that we cannot be saved without con- 
fession. There is no possible way for a man to es- 
cape without it. Such is God's teaching all through 
the Scriptures. I am sorry that many of our 
preachers have neglected this subject so much. I feel 
that we ought to make it stand out in as bold relief 
as possible. 

What do we mean by confession.? "With the heart 
man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth 
confession is made unto salvation," It is clear that 
we are to confess something before we can fully en- 
ter the heavenly way. What are we to confess? Are 
we to stand up before the world and confess that we 
believe the Bible? Before we become followers of 
the Lamb must we confess that we believe the Bible 
is true? I answer, No. That may surprise some of 
you; but listen. Are we to stand up and confess that 

130 



CONFESSION 



131 



we believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and 
that these three are one? I answer. No. This is not 
what is required in making the "good confession.'' 

But some one says: "Don't you believe in God, 
and in Christ, and in the Holy Spirit? and don't you 
believe in the Bible?" Certainly. But affirming all this 
in separate allegations is not the confession we ask 
sinners to make. No religious body believes in God 
and His Word more earnestly and conscientiously 
than the Christian Church; but we do not ask sinners 
to confess what we believe. We do not ask them to 
beheve in our theory of the atonement, or of regener- 
ation, or of baptism. We do not read to them all the 
tenets of our belief and ask them to confess that they 
believe everything just as we do. No, this is not 
what the apostle meant by "confession unto salva- 
tion." 

What, then, is the confession? I answer that it 
is just simply this — no more, no less—to openly and 
faithfully acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the son 
of God, 

"Is that all?" 

No, it is not. I left out a very important part pur- 
posely, and will tell you why; a great many of our 
religious neighbors say that we do not believe in 
"heart-felt religion;" that we have "head-religion;" 
that we can beat all our opponents in a debate on 
baptism, and whip all the infidels; but that we lack 
genuine, old-fashioned, heart-felt religion. This is 
a very common criticism, but it is an unjust one. 
That is the reason I left out just now a very impor- 
tant part in the confession, and I now want every 
person here who has ever made that criticism to hear 
the confession we do ask sinners to make. Here it 

is: "Do YOU BELIEVE, WITH ALL YOUR HEART, THAT 
JESUS IS THE CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD?" That is the 



132 CONFESSION 

confession every man, woman and cliild must make 
before he can be received into the membership of the 
Christian Church. If there is a' people on the face of 
the ^lobe possessing the New Testament kind of 
heart-felt religion, that people is the Christian Church. 

This is all there is to it. If a man honestly believes 
with all his heart — ^deep down in his immortal soul 
believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living 
God — he also believes the Bible, for the great, central 
thought of the Bible is that God gave His Son to be 
the Saviour of men. He will also believe in the Holy 
Spirit, for Christ said He would send the Comforter. 
And he will believe in the atonement, in regeneration, 
in justification, adoption, heaven, hell, and everything 
else taught in the Book of God. The lordship of 
Christ — His sacrifice and subsequent assumption of 
universal power — is the one mighty sun of truth 
around which revolve all the stars of doctrine. 

So if a sinner accepts Jesus Christ, he accepts all 
the rest. If he refuses to confess the divinity of 
Christ, no matter what else he accepts, he is lost! 
He might be baptized a thousand times; he might 
pray, give money, and weep bitter tears of penitence; 
but he cannot be saved so long as he denies the blood 
of Jesus. This is a common sin to-day, and it is not 
a new one. Nicodemus came to the Saviour by night 
and said, "Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher 
come from God" — he started out to deliver a very fine 
eulogy, but the Master cut him short, saying kindly 
but firmly, "Ye must be born again." Nicodemus 
was a man that no one should accept as a pattern. 
It pains me to hear him spoken of in laudatory words 
by some well-meaning people, for I don't think he 
ever became a Christian, — a real, true genuine fol- 
lower of Jesus. I am no admirer of Nicodemus. He 
came to Jesus at nighty evidently anxious to know 



CONFESSION 133 

more of him; but he was not willing to come out 
openly and acknowledge him. He was not disposed 
to make the necessary confession. If he had done 
so he would have brought down upon his head the op- 
probrium of the Jewish people and lost his influence 
and popularity. He was very wealthy, and might 
have had to give up everything, as well as suffer per- 
secution. He was not willing to sacrifice. Hence I 
consider him unworthy of being called a disciple of 
Jesus. True, he manifested a little sentimentality 
after the Saviour was crucified, in begging, with 
Joseph of ArTmathea, the body of the Lord; but sefi- 
timentality is far from being Christianity. 

Jesus said to him, "Ye must be born again." 
Nicodemus said, "Hov/ can a man be born again 
when he is old?" And Jesus replied, "You must be 
born of water and of the spirit." In other words, 
"You must come out openly, before the world, and 
make a complete surrender of self to me. You must 
take upon yourself the sacred vows of my religion, 
and give yourself wholly, unrelentingly to my ser- 
vice." Nicodemus was not willing to do this. I think 
he was very sorry, very penitent. But the Saviour 
demanded something more, — a public, heart-felt con- 
fession. 

You can't be a Christian secretly, my friend. If 
you would please God you must come out publicly, 
openly, before the world and confess heart-felt faith 
in His Only Begotten Son. 

Why.? First of all, because God commands it. 
This ought to be enough even if there were no other 
reasons* When God speaks it is ours to obey. Let 
us look into the Word concerning this matter. Turn 
to Rom. 10:9,10: "If thou shalt confess with thy 
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine 
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou 



131 CONFESSION 

shalt be saved. For v/ith the heart man believeth 
unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is 
made unto salvation." Here we see that in order to 
be saved, in order to have forgiveness of sins, in order 
to get into fellowship with the Father, in order to 
have that peace that passeth understanding, we must 
confess that Jesus is the Christ, for ^^wiich the mouth 
confession is made unto salvation,*' or /^;2^(? the happy 
state of the Christian. The "good confession'' is a 
preliminary step to this great end. 

Turn again to Matt. 10:32-33: "Whosoever there- 
fore shall confess me before men, him will I confess 
also before my Father which is in heaven," In other 
words, "Whosoever shall stand up before the world 
and give himself to me completely, commit himself 
to my care and keeping, become my disciple, and, 
whenever occasion demands, confess me before the 
world. Him I will confess before my Father which 
is in heaven." Listen: "But whosoever shall deny 
me before men, him will I also deny before my Father 
which is in heaven." If we are afraid to confess 
Christ; if we neglect to stand up for Him; if we lead 
a careless and Godless life; if we fail to make that 
confession He demands of all men, the King of Glory 
will say, "I never knew you, depart from me into 
outer darkness." 

Oh, my brother, it is a subject of tremendous im- 
portance. God has commanded us to confess His 
Holy Son, aud he means it. God never said any- 
thing that He did not mean — He never trifles with 
the hearts of men. 

Turn now to the 8th Chapter of the Book of Acts. 
Here we have an account of Philip's preaching to the 
Ethiopian eunuch. The eunuch was reading in the 
Book of Esaias. The language was prophetical of 
Christ, and he didn't understand it. So he asked 



CONFESSION 135 

Philip, "Of whom speaketh the prophet this? of him- 
self, or of some other man?'' In reply, the sacred 
writer says, "Philip opened his mouth, and began at 
the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus." 
And the eunuch believed. We don't know what 
all Philip said, but it is clearly evident that he said 
the eunuch must believe, and must repent of his sins, 
and must be baptized. We know this from legitimate 
inference. For before he met Philip the eunuch 
didn't know anything about Christ, much less the 
tenets of the gospel. And yet at the conclusion of 
the evangelist's instructions we find him requesting 
immediate baptism. 

This leads me to say that no man can preach Christ 
fully and ignore the great subject of Christian 
baptism. It is quite popular with evangelists nowa- 
days to hoot at this important matter as a "non- 
essential," but this is too bad, for no man can preach 
the gospel Scripturally and ignore baptism. The 
apostolic teachers always gave it its true place in 
conversion, and we should do likewise. 

Well, did Philip baptize him without further com- 
ment. No. Why? Didn't he believe? Yes. 
Wasn't he sorry for his sins? Yes, or he would not 
have made that long journey to Jerusalem to worship. 
Wasn't he willing to be baptized? Yes, for he said 
earnestly, "See, here is water; what doth hinder me 
to be baptized?" But Philip would not baptize him 
until he made the "good confession." He said, "If 
thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest." 
Upon this the anxious inquirer answered and said, "I 
believe tlrat Jesus Christ is the Son of God." Then 
he baptized him. 

So I must declare unto you, friendly sinner, that 
you are not a fit candidate for Christian baptism, and 
you ought not to claim, the promises of Heaven, until 



136 CONFESSION 

you can intelligently, confidently, willingly, and 
whole-heartedly make an open confession of Christ. 
He commands it, and it must be done. 

So much for the Scriptures on this subject. More 
passages might be cited, but these will suffice. One 
or two clearly stated proofs from the Book of God 
should be accepted by the believer as readily as 
forty or fifty. But sometimes I like to give a num- 
ber of passages, for there is power in a preponder- 
ance of evidence. 

In the second place, we should confess our Lord 
before the world because we owe it to His Church. 
Jesus gave his lifers blood to sanctify his Church, — 
to set it up in the world that it might save the lost 
and unredeemed. Our Lord is not now here to save 
in person, but He can save just as surely through His 
Church as though He were here to touch us with his 
healing hand. We cannot be saved in the same 
manner as the thief on the cross. Some say, "If Jesus 
saved the thief on the cross without baptism, He 
will save me." But this is a gross presumption. You 
don't know but vvhat the thief had been baptized un- 
der John's baptism. Before he entered the burglary 
business he may have been what is commonly called 
a very consistent Christian. (It would be incorrect to 
apply the term Christian to him, however, as there 
were no Christians, properly speaking, until after- 
wards.) He might once have been a very good man — 
religious, upright, a keeper of the law of Moses. And 
upon hearing the burning words of John the Baptist, 
he may, like thousands of others, have been baptized. 
Many people become dishonest and sinful after 
baptism, and this thief may belong to that class. But 
the true reason why we can't be saved like the thief 
on the cross, is that Jesus is not here in person, and 
we are not living with him under the Mosaic Dispen- 



CONFESSION 137 

sation. He is not walking the streets of Chicago to- 
night as he walked the highways of Judea,and hence 
we cannot expect to be saved in the same way the 
thief on the cross was saved. I get tired of answer- 
ing this senseless quibble, and feel like saying that 
if I were in your place I would want to be saved 
like an honest man anyhow, and not like a thief. 
An honest man is willing to comply with the Sav- 
iour's requirements.without this sort of quibbling. 

There is too much effort on the part of some re- 
ligious enthusiasts to convey the impression that Jesus 
is here in person. He is not; but wherever His ser- 
vants are, wherever the gospel is preached with hearts 
full of love, and wherever work is being done, the 
Saviour is there in spirit. The way He saves people 
to-day is not through his own personal ministry as 
he saved the thief and others, but through His Church. 
We are not under the old covenant, which was re- 
stricted to the Israelites; but under the new, which' 
was sealed by the crucifixion blood of Christ, and 
which is universal. Hence I say we owe it to His 
Church to make the good confession; for in confessing 
our faith in Him we honor His Church. Ob, take your 
stand with the members of the church and help us 
battle against the enemies of light, the enemies of 
peace, the enemies of Christ. We are pleading — 

"For the right against the wrong, 
For the weak against the strong; 
For the poor who've waited long 

For the brighter age to be; 
For the truth 'gainst superstition. 
For the faith against tradition, 
For the hope, whose glad fruition 
Our waiting eyes shall see." 

If there was ever a time in the history of Chris- 
tianity when the church needed the confession of 
those who believe in Christ it is now. In our great 



138 CONFESSION 

cities burdened with saloons, with gambling hells, 
with unclean places of resort; burdened with law- 
breakers and sacrilege of every kind— if there ever 
was a time the church needed the confession of all 
true men it is now. So come, and give it with all 
your heart. Give the church the recommendation, 
the devotion of your life. Delay not to make this good 
confession, for in so doing you will help in giving the 
church prestige among the unsaved; you will help it 
to run and be glorified! 

In the third place, we owe it to our Divine Master 
to make this good confession. He has promised to 
confess us before the Father and His holy angels; this 
is a marvelous honor. And then to stand up before 
the world to-day and make this good confession is to 
receive honor of men. The individual who boldly 
and cheerfully confesses Christ is thought more of to- 
day than the man v/ho does not. All things else be- 
ing equal, the young man who is a Christian has the 
inside track in the great business world. The time 
is coming when the young man who is not upright, 
honest and moral can't get a first-class position, be- 
cause business men know that the best policy is to 
employ honest, moral men to manage their affairs, — 
men who can be trusted. Yes, we owe it to Christ 
who hung on the cross in nakedness, and shame, and 
agony confessing us. It was a wonderful sacrifice 
to be offered up for such poor, unworthy creatures; 
But He loved us in our sins — loved us while we were 
yet His enemies — loved His persecutors — loved the 
unclean and the unredeemed. When they asked 
Him, "Are you the Christ?" He said, "I am;" and 
they crucified him for it. When he has done so much 
for us, it is as little as we can do to stand up and 
say, "I believe, and therefore will I serve Him — yea^ 
with all my heart I acknowledge Him to be the Son 



CONFESSION 139 

of the eternal Father-— His precious gift to the world," 
It seems but reasonable that we should make this 
confession. 

In the fourth place, we owe it to the world, if we 
really believe there is a God in Heaven and a satan 
in hell. If you really believe that the church has 
power to triumph over evil, and, under Christ, to 
transform demons of darkness into angels of light; 
if you really believe that the church is a good insti- 
tution, and its services worthy of the attendance and 
supiport of all good people; if you really believe that 
God is a good Father, that Christ is a kind and lov- 
ing Saviour, that the Holy Spirit is a tender Com- 
forter, then you owe it to the world to make this 
confession, thus setting an example of obedience to 
noble principle. 

Oh, if every one who knew their duty would only 
do their duty, it would not take long to revolutionize 
the world! But so many know what is right and neg- 
lect to do it; become indifferent, and go down to the 
grave unprepared to meet God. If there is a careless 
one here to-night, I beg of 5''ou to consider the im- 
portance of this great matter. Remember that the 
inspired writer says, "He that knoweth his Master's 
will and doeth it not shall be beaten with many 
stripes." 

The world demands that you give it your best. 
You know that this is so in every relation of life. If 
a man makes a great discovery in medicine, the 
world demands of him the fruits of his discovery. It 
does not insist upon the publicity of his recipe. It 
would not be wise for him to tell everybody just how 
his panacea is made, for that would be suicidal policy. 
Some find fault with Mr.Keeley because he don't tell 
everybody his remedy which is working such great re- 
sults in the cure of the drunkard. But I think his 



140 CONFESSION 

course is a wise one. Human nature is so constituted 
that if he should make public his secret it would soon 
fail to do anybody good. In six months there would 
be few using it. Men usually like to pay for what 
they get. So Mr. Keeley keeps his remedy a secret, 
charges a good fee for its application, and shows the 
world much good fruit. I sometimes think that if we. 
charged $50 a head for joining the church we would 
soon double our list of members! It costs from 
$25 to $100 to join the leading lodges, and they 
catch their thousands annually. So possibly if we 
would charge a good round fee to join the church 
some of these fellows would be caught! 

When a man makes a great discovery he owes it to 
the world to give his fellows the benefit of it. When 
Sir Isaac Newton made his great discovery of the 
laws of gravitation, he owed it to the world to give 
human thought the benefit of it. And so with Ful- 
ton, Watts, Whitney, Edison and every other man 
who makes a discovery. He owes its results to the 
world. And so if you know the gospel to be a good 
thing; if you believe in your heart that Jesus Christ 
is the Son of God, and that He is able to save to the 
uttermost all who put their trust in Him, you owe it 
to your friend, to your neighbor, and to all mankind 
about you to make the good confession. 

In the last place, and in some respects the most 
important of all, we owe it to ourselves to confess 
Christ. Young man, if you believe, you owe it to 
yourself to make the good confession; for in so doing 
you commit yourself once for all to the highest, best 
and noblest work of human life. The time when you 
came forward before the world and linked your life 
with Christ, in future years will be considered the be- 
ginning of an enlarged manhood; the opening to you 
of the grandest type of earthly progress. Yes, you 



CONFESSION 141 

owe it to yourself to acknowledge the sovereignty of 
Christ over your soul. There are many men reeling 
home drunk to-night; others sitting at the card table 
playing games; some engaged in burglary, or fighting 
and carousing, who might be good, upright men, 
sitting in their own homes, surrounded by happy 
families, reading good books, if twenty years 
ago they had stood up before the world and 
earnestly, lovingly confessed their faith in the 
Son of God. Such a noble self-commitment 
would have kept them pure, and divine love 
would have been thrown about their hearts in 
such a way as to save them from the temptations that 
they have yielded to all these years, and from the 
sins which are dragging them down to hell. Oh, my 
brother, if you know your duty to-night, I beg you 
to do it! This may be your last opportunity. If we 
let these golden privileges pass, we will soon be sorry, 
so sorry. I think the saddest and most suggestive 
words ever written by the poet Whittier, are these: 
"It might have been." 

"I had a good start," says one, "a good, kind father 
and mother, dear brothers and sisters; everything 
was bright at the old fireside. But I entered the 
wrong way, and have been going down, down all m.y 
life. Now all my chances are gone, my friends have 
deserted me, and I am going hellward as fast as I 
can go there!" There are thousands of men in this 
country in that condition to-day. If they had only 
started in the right way, if they had only committed 
themselves to Christ, they would have been happy and 
prosperous now. Yes, young man, and young lady, 
you owe it to yourselves and to your loved ones to 
make this good confession. If you truly believe, you 
owe it to the Church, you owe it to God, you owe it 
to the w^orld, and you owe it to yourself to openly 
avow your faith. 



142 



CONFESSION 



But when? Right now. If you don* t make con- 
fession to-night, you may let to-morrow pass; you 
may let Sunday pass; and oh! you may let this series 
of meetings close without altering your unsaved con- 
dition. We can't compel you — if I could, and it 
were God's way of doing things, I would compel 
every man, woman and child in this building to make 
the good confession, for I know it would benefit you 
both temporally and eternally; but I can't do that. 
No; for our Lord's religion is a peaceful religion; and 
His warfare is a bloodless warfare. We can't go out 
with swords and bayonets and guns and force men to 
accept Christ. I can't go down these aisles and by 
main strength compel you to do your duty. If our 
arguments fail; if our efforts to stir your affections 
fail; if our appeals to your will fail — if all these 
means God has given us with which to move you to 
obedience fail, then we will have to let you go on in 
your sins. 

But I must say the time is coming when you will 
have to confess Christ. After these matters are all 
taken out of human hands the time will come when 
you will be compelled to do your duty. Turn to 
Philippians 2:9-11: "Wherefore' God also hath 
highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is 
above every name; that at the name of Jesus Christ 
every knee should bozv, of things in heaven, and 
things in earth, and things under the earth; and that 
every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
to the glory of God the Father." Oh, when that 
great day comes, the Day of Judgment, you can't hide 
from the Eternal One! There will be no place under 
the earth or above the earth where you can hide from 
the wrath of your Creator. Some will be so scared 
that they will call for the mountains to fall on them 
and the hills to hide them that they may escape the 



CONFESSION 143 

vengeance of God, but their cries will not be heeded. 
If after all the tender provisions He has made for you 
His commandments are ignored, He will drag you 
from your lair of wickedness, from your dens of vice, 
and from your hiding places of shame and compel you 
to stand before the bar of Judgment. There, in the 
presence of all the nations gathered together from 
the four quarters of the earth, you will have to kneel 
and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of all. 

Then why not make it voluntarily? A volunteer 
soldier is always the best kind of a soldier. Don't 
wait to be drafted! Come out here at the rallying 
camp of the host of God and enlist of your own free 
will and accord! Join the march of the brave, and 
fight the good fight of faith, the fight of the valiant 
soldier, and at the last day you can go up gladly to 
the grand review of heaven and receive the Great 
Captain's welcome, "Well done, good and faithful 
soldier!" 

The best men in the world's history have been the 
men who acknowledged the sovereignty of Christ — 
have moved the world Godward. Mr. Gladstone 
states that during the long years of his premiership he 
came in contact with sixty master minds, and all but 
five were Christians. The leading patriots of all 
nations and ages have been worshipers of the God 
of the Christian's Bible. The greatest jurists of his- 
tory were Christians. The greatest poets have been 
Christians. The greatest painters have been Chris- 
tians. And the greatest pieces of music have been 
composed under Christian inspiration,- — Handel's 
"Messiah," for instance, and the great pieces of Hay- 
den, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and the rest. The subjects 
of the world's greatest painters, as well as its greatest 
musical compositions, are taken from the Bible. 
Those who have had the most to do v/itb the devel- 
opment of mankind have been followers of Jesui, 



^44 CONFESSION 

So why should you hesitate to step into line? Oh, 
I beg of you to-night to fall into the ranks of the 
Redeemer and help us in the great work of carrying 
the glad message of redeeming love to the uttermost 
parts of the earth! I plead with you, dear friend, 
to come forward and pubhcly acknowledge, from the 
depths of your heart, your belief in the only begotten 
Son of God. If you will make that confession to-night. 
He will confess you before the Father, and the angels 
of glory will rejoice! Come now, and let there be a 
glad chorus in heaven to-night over the salvation of 
many precious souls. 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM. 

Text: "Consistency, thou art a jewel/* 

Christian Baptism is one of the most commonly 
discussed subjects in the world ; a subject upon which 
there is a great deal of controversy, arguing pro and 
con, and con and pro; but like Banquo's ghost, *it 
will not down. * Well, whatever else may be said of 
it, it is not a dry subject anyway; so I will probably 
be able to keep you awake to-night if I don't do any- 
thing else. 

At a good many places my friends are afraid for 
me to preach on Baptism. They think it will keep 
the people away. But they soon see their mistake, 
for I usually have very large audiences when I speak 
on this subject. This is just as it should be, for it 
is a subject the people want to know more about; it 
is a subject that ought to be discussed Scripturally, 
and in such a way that the common people as well 
as the more highly educated can understand it. 

First of all then, we will appeal to the Bible, and 
secondly, to the testimony of the great scholars in the 
world, and see if we can learn the truth concerning 
this great doctrinal subject. I trust my hearers will 
be very kind, and very thoughtful to-night. There 
are several hundred here who agree with me, and 
several hundred who, I suppose, do not. I take it 
for granted that you are all honest in your convic- 
tions. If you are not honest, heaven pity you. Life 
is too short for us to be anything but honest upon 
every subject connected with the soul's salvation. So 

145 



146 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 

I want you all to be honest, and if you find yourself 
to be wrong, have principle enough in you to ac- 
knowledge it, and place yourself henceforth on the 
side of right. Hear my plea attentively and prayer- 
fully, and I think I can easily convince you that our 
people are right in their views concerning this im- 
portant matter, for our views are in exact accord 
with the Bible, and with the highest scholarship of 
the world. 

Right here I want you to take a good look at this 
little chart: — [See page 147.] 

A certain revivalist was once conducting meetings at 
Manhattan, Kansas, and Professor Thomson, one of 
our brethren, attended. One day the Professor in- 
vited the evangelist to dine with him, and when the 
opportunity presented itself he put to the preacher 
this question: "When inquiring sinners ask you what 
to do to be saved, why don't you quote Acts 2:38 — 
*Repent and be baptized every one of you in the 
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins?' This 
was the inspired apostle Peter's language to seekers. 
Why don't you quote it?" The evangelist replied, 
"The truth is. Brother Thomson, that I fear the peo- 
ple would not come back to hear me." Now I want 
to say to you people, if you are silly enough to be 
offended at me for preaching the truth, you may go! 
If you are silly enough to come here to hear me 
preach and then get mad when I quote the Word of 
God, you may stay away. People of that kind are 
naturally bound ruin-ward anyv/ay, and the sooner 
they arrive there the better perhaps for human de- 
velopment. Certainly, let us be honest and honor- 
able, and consider all sides of this subject. As forme, 
whatever God has commanded me to preach, I am 
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148 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 

things else I desire to please my Heavenly Father. 
A brave man will not be afraid to preach the truth, 
and it will not cost him his crowds either. For a 
number of years I have been following this plan, and 
my audiences have usually been measured by the 
capacity of the buildings where I have preached. And 
it is not owing to my superior education or talent, 
for I am an humble man in these respects; but because 
I have spoken plainly, fearlessly, and lovingly the 

TRUTH. 

If the simple truth concerning Christian Baptism 
were preached clearly and unequivocally by evangel- 
ical churches generally; if the ordinance were given its 
divinely appointed place in the scheme of redemp- 
tion, I believe we would have ten converts to Chris- 
tianity where we have one to-day. 

Notice that motto at the top of the chart: "Prove 
all things; hold fast that which is good.'^ (i Thes. 
5:21.) 

These words were written by the Apostle Paul, 
the greatest of all the apostles, and one of the great- 
est defenders of the Gospel the world has ever known. 
It Vv^as one of his mottoes, and is certainly worthy of 
your acceptance and mine. "Prove all things; hold 
fast that which is good." If you can't prove a given 
position to be scriptural, why, be scholarly and con- 
sistent, and give it up. Don't be theological leeches 
and hold fast to everything your ecclesiastical author- 
ities teach, whether true or not; but be consistent, 
and let go of everything you can't sustain by the 
Bible. If faith is right, let us be able to prove it, 
and then hang on to it. So with repentance, and im- 
mersion. If we can't prove immersion, we don't ask 
any one to hold fast to it. If we can't prove that 
God wants you to be baptized, then we will not ask 
you to submit to the ordinance. If there is anything 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 



149 



we believe in, it is in proving our position by the 
Scriptures. Some churches are afraid to have their 
doctrines inquired into closely; but you can't please 
the Christian Church better than to investigate its 
belief and practice. 

Here is our second motto at the bottom of the 
chart — "If any man speak, let him speak as the 
oracles of God." You will find this in the fourth 
chapter of Peter's First Epistle, eleventh verse. In 
plain language the inspired apostle enjoins us to 
speak like the Bible; to tell the world what God says. 
We are not to speak like some synod, some associa- 
tion, some conference, some council, or some theo- 
logical assembly; but like the oracles of God. What 
man speaks is feeble. What we accept as settled to- 
day, to-morrow we often reject as an error. Four 
hundred years ago everybody thought the world was 
as flat as a pancake; but nobod)^ with common 
sense thinks so to-day. Astronomy has proven to us 
that the world is oval. So in the theological world 
men cut and dry this and that for all time and for ail 
people; but in a few generations their deductions are 
weighed in the balance of a greater enlightenment and 
found wanting. But God's Word is for all time and 
all people and can never be out of date. So the way 
for us to speak is as the oracles of God speak. If we 
can prove our doctrines from the Bible, very well. If 
not, they should be discarded once for all. 

Now I will ask for you a few simple questions, and 
request you to observe their answers closely. 

What is christian baptism? What is it for? 
Who are to be baptized? How must we baptize? 
God's warning and promise 

Now look here, I don't want you to tell me what 

.you think about this question. I wouldn't give three 

straws for what you think, and you wouldn't give 



150 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 

two for what I think perhaps. We are not after 
man s think ^^'^,but God' s say so' s. The world is sick 
and tired of mere opinion. One person says, "I 
think baptism is an outward form of an inw^ard grace/* 
Another that it is "a mere form." Still another opines 
something else, and so it goes. But the honest in- 
quirer wants to know what God's Book has to say- 
about it. So we will turn to its sacred pages and 
see. 

Concerning the first question, What is Baptism.^ 
we will notice three passages: — 

(i) Matt. 28:18,19. "And Jesus came and spake 
unto them, saying. All power is given unto m.e in 
heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all 
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." These are 
among the very last words our Saviour spoke. It 
was just before his ascension to the right hand of the 
Father. Turning to Peter and the other apostles as 
He stocd talking with them, He m^ade this important 
declaration: "All authority and power, both in heaven 
and earth, is given unto me." It is well for us to 
rememiber,in the light of these words, that all power 
and authority is not given to theological councils, 
whether of Roman or Protestant extraction. All 
power is not given to the pope of Rome, nor to the 
bishops of Protestantism. But all power, all authority, 
is given to Christ. It was a risen conqueror w^ho 
uttered these words, and He meant what He said. 
When the Lord speaks, it is ours to hear most rever- 
ently. Almost the last words of Jesus were: "Go, 
disciple all nations, baptizing them in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." We 
argue, therefore, that baptism is a positive, divine 
conimandme7it of God, and not a "non-essential," a 
"mere ceremony," or "church ordinance." It is a 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM I5I 

commandment, and is intended for obedience as 
much as faith or repentance. 

(2) Mark 16:15, 16. ^'^ And he said unto them, 
Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to 
every creature. He that believeth and is baptized 
shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be 
damned.'' I once heard of a preacher who did not 
believe baptism essential, and when taking this pas- 
sage as a text he would read: — "He that believeth, 
etCy shall be saved!" But we should read it just as 
it is. The word "^/^." is not in the passage, "He 
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved,'' said 
the master. And there is no promise of heaven to any 
man, woman or child of accountability except they 
shall comply with these divine requirements. Hope 
of salvation is extended to-day only to those who be- 
live and are baptized. Here are the conditions of sal- 
vation and unless accepted we have no right to expect 
the Gates of Pearl to open for our disobedient feet. 
The Lord has made baptism a positive command- 
ment, and He certainly means that we shall keep it 
faithfully. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the 
gospel to every creature.^'* Aren't you a creature? 
Yes. Then your duty is to believe and be baptized. 
Do not try to shrink from your duty by unhallowed 
quibblings. 

(3) Acts 2:37, 38. "Now when they heard this, 
they were pricked in their hearts." This was on the 
day of Pentecost, you remember, ten days after the 
Saviour had ascended to heaven, and according to 
promise the Holy Spirit was poured out upon Peter 
and the other apostles, and they began to speak with 
tongues, and were enabled to perform wonderful 
miracles. Peter stood up and delivered the great ser- 
mon epitomized in this second chapter of the Book of 
Acts. He told them they had taken Jesus, the Mes- 



152 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 

siah, and with wicked hands had crucified and slain 
Him. Peter was very personal. In our day some 
people don't like personalities — it hurts the con- 
science! He told them plainly that they were cruel 
murderers, and declared that they had nailed the Son 
of God to the tree. He reasoned with them, bring- 
in[j[ forth unanswerable proofs from the prophecies, 
and from the marvelous life and words of the Naz- 
arene. The result was that many truly believed, and 
cried out, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" 
Now what did Peter answer? Oh, listen as for eter- 
nity! Speaking by the inspiration of God, he said: 
"Repent, a7id be baptized^ every one of you, in the 
name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and 
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'' Yes, 
here it is, as plain and emphatic as words can make 
it — "repent and be baptized.'' The apostle did not 
say, "Repent, ^/c" He did not say Repentance 
alone, for we are saved by both. How many of our 
auditors to-night think repentance necessary? Every 
one of you. Very well; He taught the necessity of 
baptism in the same sentence, and God meant that 
every man, woman and child of accountable age on 
the face of the globe should comply with both require- 
ments. Baptism is as much a positive, divine com- 
mandment as repentance. With Peter there was no 
equivocation on the subject. He did not assert that 
baptism "didn't amount to anything," or that it was 
only an "outward sign of an inward grace," or a 
"mere ceremony," or that it was "purely a church or- 
dinance." No, no, Peter was no juggler with the 
Word of God. He spoke boldly just as the Spirit 
gave him utterance. We are taught that Christian 
baptism is a positive, divine commandment, to be 
faithfully kept unto salvation. Whosoever says other- 
wise teaches what is unscriptural and untrue. Who- 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 1 53 

soever says it is a "non-essentiaP^ says what is not 
true, for God never commanded a non-essentiaL It 
is an act of loyalty — it is the seal of pardon — it is the 
cap-sheaf of conversion. 

But WHAT IS IT FOR? There must be good reasons 
for it, for God never asks us to do anything unreason- 
able. But as this is a very critical and exacting age, 
it is fitting that preachers should make clear the de- 
sign of baptism when pressing its essentiality. So 
let us notice five passages of Scripture concerning 
this matter. 

First, John 3:4. "Nicodemus saith unto him, How 
can a man be born when he is old.^ Can he 
enter the second time into his mother's womb, and 
be born.^ Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto 
thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit 
he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God." Nicode- 
mus came to the Master by night, and said, "Rabbi, 
we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for 
no man can do these miracles that thou doest except 
God be with him." But Christ said, "Ye must be born 
again." Now I think Nicodemus wanted to retain his 
place among the Jews, and partake of the fruit of the 
Nazarene's ministry at the same time. But Christ 
said, "You must take a public stand for me. I can- 
not accept mere night service. My followers must 
come out openly and above board in their profession 
if they would gain my favor, for I say unto you 
most emphatically that unless one be born of water 
and of the spirit^ he cannot enter into the kingdom 
of God.'^^ Now it does not say, "Except ye be born 
of the Spirit alone, "^^ I have heard of preachers de- 
claring that "water" doesn't mean water at all in this 
instance, but Spirit. But there is an old rule which 
insists that in the substitution of one word for an- 
other, the word substituted must make sense when 



154 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 

read in connection with the rest of the sentence. Let 
us apply this rule right here: "Except a man be 
born of spirit and of the Spirit!" What consummate 
foolishness! I heard a prominent Y. M. C. A. worker 
express his belief that the word "water" here means 
Word. But all the great authorities of the schol- 
astic world are against him. The truth is that when 
Jesus said "water," he meant water. The best com- 
mentators declare that this passage has reference to 
Christian Baptism, — a birth of the water and of the 
Spirit. The natural, practical interpretation of the 
passage, therefore, is that "except a man submit to 
this ordinance of Heaven he cannot enter into the 
Kingdom of God." Beware, then, lest in neglecting 
it you fall short of your reward. 

Again, Acts 22:16. "And now why tarriest 
thou.? Arise and be baptised and wash away 
thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." 
This was said to Saul of Tarsus. You re- 
member that he was on his way to Damascus, when 
he saw a wonderful vision, and heard the voice of 
Jesus saying,"Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" 
Smitten with conviction he cried, "Lord, what wilt 
thou have me to do?" The Saviour said, "Arise, and 
go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou 
must do." (Acts 9:6.) He arose and went, one of his 
companions leading him, as he could not see.' And 
after three days Ananias went over to his lodging place, 
being bidden of the Lord. Paul had been praying, but 
had not yet received pardon and peace, for God never 
saves by prayer alone. At no place in the Divine 
Book has He promised to forgive any man, woman 
or child by prayer, so long as they remain alien 
sinners. The Christian who, through faith and obe- 
dience, has come into contact with the blood of Christ, 
receives forgiveness through confession and prayer; 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 1 55 

but those who h^ve never accepted Christ cannot 
consistently claim this sweet privilege. So Ananias 
visited Saul, and soon learned that he was a believing 
man, a peniteitt man, a confessing man (for had he 
not, when smitten in the way, acknowledged the 
divinity of Christ?) and a sincere man, for he had 
evidently been praying for forgiveness day and night. 
Now what did Ananias tell him to do? Note care- 
fully, for it is of God: — "Why tarriest thou? Arise 
and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on 
the name of the Lord." Hence we see from this 
passage that Christian Baptism is/^r,or in oi^der tOj 
the washing away of sins. 

Again, Gal. 3:27. "For as many of you as have 
been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." We 
see from this reference that baptism is for, or in or- 
der to the putting on of Christ, Figuratively, when 
we become Christians we put ofJ the filthy rags of sin, 
and put on the shining cloak of righteousness. 
Hence Paul refers to baptism as the putting on of 
Christ, This is no light matter, but an act affecting 
the soul's present and eternal happiness. 

Once more, take i Peter 3:19,20,21. "By which 
also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; 
which sometime were disobedient, when once the 
longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while 
the ark was a preparing, wherein fevv^, that is, eight 
souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto 
even baptism doth now save us (not the putting 
away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a 
good conscience toward Godj, by the resurrection of 
Jesus Christ." I will venture there are 500 people 
in this audience v/ho did not know these words were 
in the Bible — ^^savrd by water ^^^ and '^the like figure 
zvhereunto baptism does now save us,^^ But here they 
are, and if we are honest we will accept them and 



1^6 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 

govern ourselves accordingly. Those who really be- 
lieve the Word of God and loi^e the Lord with all 
their hearts do not quibble over the essentiality of 
this holy ordinance. The apostle Peter, writing un- 
der inspiration, declares that baptism saves us, but 
not by putting off the filth of the flesh. When we 
baptize people, it is not to literally wash away their 
sins, as the hands are cleansed by dipping them in a 
basin of water. Peter says, "It is the answer of a 
good conscience toward God." It becomes so because 
it is an act of obedience to the law of our Redeemer. 
This act is the answer, or the complement to, a good 
conscience toward God. I can't see how any one 
trying to be a Christian, and not having been bap- 
tized, can have a good conscience toward God. Of 
course baptism alone cannot save us, any more than 
faith alone or prayer alone. But as we have no hope 
of salvation without faith and prayer, neither can we 
have without baptism, for the apostle here tells us 
plainly that it is /or^ or Z7t order ^//^/^ salvation, and 
the answer of a good conscience toward God. 

Let us refer to Acts 2:38 once more, as it also 
bears on the design of baptism. Peter said, "Repent 
and be baptized every one of you." What for, Peter.? 
Why did God command them to be baptized.? ^^For 
the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of 
the Holy Spirit." That is what baptism is for, — "for 
the remission of sins." The great Baptist Church, 
nearly four millions strong counting its several 
branches, is identical with the Disciples in their belief 
and practice as to the act of baptism; (they are a 
good people, God bless them!) but they are wrong as 
to the design, for they think their sins are remitted 
when they repent and believe, and pray. Then at 
some convenient time they are admitted to baptism, 
not as an act to secure forgiveness for sin, but merely 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM I57 

as a church ordinance. The New Version is even 
clearer than the Old on this verse. It has it, "Re- 
pent, and be baptized every one of you in the name 
of Jesus Christ unto the remission of sins." This 
rendering permits no quibbling on the Greek preposi- 
tion eis. It shows that we are to be baptized, not be- 
cause our sins have been forgiven, but /(?r or in order 
2into the remission of sins. According to this Scrip- 
ture no man, woman, or child of accountability has 
any promise of forgiveness until he is baptized. 

We pass on to the next question, which is a very 
interesting one: — 

WHO MAY BE BAPTIZED? 

Says the Lutheran Church, "Everybody, men, 
women and children." So say the Methodist, Presby- 
terian, Episcopalian, and I don't know how many 
other denominations. Let everybody come; if some 
are too young to come of their own accord, their folks 
may bring them, for they should be baptized. The 
little tots may kick and squirm, but what right have 
they to protest against the whims of their seniors? 
Bring them any Vv^ay ! But we are getting into the 
domain of human opinions. We must call a halt, 
for there is no time for mere "think so's," no time to 
paddle around man's theological ponds. We should 
dispense with human creeds. I sometimes think that 
creeds have sent more souls to hell than to heaven. 
It has been asserted, and I think upon good authority, 
that Calvinism is largely responsible for the infidelity of 
Bob Ingersoll. His father was a Calvinistic preacher, 
and instead of preaching a pure gospel, he preached 
an alloyed one, a gospel tinctured with the mon- 
strous doctrine of infant damnation, and other 
hideous fallacies. It is not strange that his boy re- 



158 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 

volted at so distorted a view of Christianity. If we 
would let God speak, and have done with man's 
little prejudices as expressed in modern creeds.there 
would not be one skeptic where there are ten to-day. 
Who, then, according to the Word of God, are to 
be baptized? Answer, Only peniteiit believers. This 
forever excludes infants and idiots. We do not bap- 
tize infants, because they have nothing, in the first 
place, to be penitent of; and in the second place, be- 
cause their mental faculties are not sufficiently de- 
veloped to enable them to believe. Only penitent 
believers are fit subjects for Christian Baptism. Mr. 
Ingersoll is not, for he don't believe. The young 
man who laughs and scoffs at religion is not; for he 
is without faith, and "whatsoever is not of faith is 
sin." The man who believes, but is not sorry for his 
sins, is not a fit candidate for Christian Baptism, for 
he is not penitent. A man must honestly believe, 
and thoroughly repent before he can be a fit candi- 
date for Christian Baptism. Notice Acts 16:14, 15. 
"And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of 
purple, of the City of Thyatira, which worshiped 
God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened, that 
she attended unto the things which were spoken of 
Paul. And when she was baptized, and her house- 
hold, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me 
to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and 
abide there." If we really want to know what God 
wants us to do to be saved, we will go back and find 
out what the inspired apostles taught the people, — 
what Paul, and Peter, and Philip preached to the peo- 
ple. Here we learn that the Lord "opened the heart" 
of Lydia, and she was forthwith baptized, together 
with her household. They were already worshiping 
people, but not saved, for they were out of Christ. 
When Paul declared the story of the cross to them, 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 



159 



their hearts were opened, — in other words, they peni- 
tently believed, and were willing to obey the com- 
mandments of the Lord. Only those whose hearts 
have been opened of the Lord are Scripturally entitled 
to Christian Baptism. And allow me to say right here 
that there is nothing miraculous about this heart- 
opening,for in the Scriptural use of the words,"mind'' 
and "heart^mean the same thing. In this passage the 
word "heart'' does not mean the organ in the left side 
of the body. People sometimes pray, "Lord, take 
away this cold, stony heart and give me a warm heart 
of flesh," as if God would perform a physiological 
miracle in conversion! Happily such prayers are not 
answered literally. You don't tliink down here in 
your left side, do you? No, and the Lord doesn't 
open your fleshy heart, but your mind, your reason, 
your affections, your inmost soul. That is what He 
does v^hen you accept His truth through the preached 
word. It was through the Word of God, as it was 
faithfully preached by Paul, that the heart of Lydia 
was opened. And when your heart is opened, it will 
bs in the same way. Then, and not till then, will 
you be a fit subject for Christian Baptism. 

Let us also notice Acts 8:12. "But when they 
beheved Phihp preaching the things concerning the 
Kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they 
v/ere baptized, both men and women." 

Were there any babies baptized, Professor Hutto? 

Hutto: "It doesn't say anything about it." 

No, you are right. It says "both men and women," 
but no babies. Now it seems to me that if we are 
going by the Bible we ought to observe this passage 
critically. There were undoubtedly among Philip's 
auditors many infants, but he didn't baptize one of 
.them. It certainly was not considered necessary, or 
this grand man of God would have attended to it. In 



l6o CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 

the case of Lydia's household some think there are 
grounds for the practice of infant baptism, but as 
there is not a shadow of evidence anywhere to prove 
that Lydia had any children, or, if she had, that they 
were not matured, this assumption is vain. Only 
those who penitently believe the preached word, as 
did the Samaritans under Philip, can be fit subjects 
for Christian Baptism, 

Again, Acts i8:8. "And Crispus, the chief ruler 
of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his 
house; and many of the Corinthians hearing, beheved, 
and were baptized." The babies didn't hear. No, 
babies can't "hear" in the Scriptural sense. They hear 
the voice of mamma, or the roar of thunder, or the 
thrilling notes of pleasant music; but their little men- 
tal faculties are not yet acute enough to interpret 
the meaning of all this. They hear as animals hear, 
not as individuals capable of weighing, considering, 
and deciding with intelligence. Idiots, who are not 
responsible, and infants, who are undeveloped, and 
withal spotlessly pure anyhow, are not subjects for 
Christian Baptism. 

There is not a single instance of infant baptism in 
the New Testament. I will make another offer: I 
will give $50.00 to any man who will find me one 
single instance where Christ or any of his apostles 
ever commanded or practiced infant baptism. Some 
of my hearers doubtless believe in it, practice it, but 
you do so utterly without Scriptural warrant. The 
great Henry Ward Beecher said, "I practice infant 
sprinkling, because I think it is a good thing, and 
not because the New Testament commands it." Yet 
now and then we hear of some little popinjay of a 
preacher jumping up to remark that the Bible teaches 
infant sprinkling, and citing in proof of his position 
some of the instances of household baptisms. He 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM l6l 

thinks that because a whole household was baptized, 
of course there must have been some babies there. 
But is this a necessary inference? There has been a 
whole household lately added to this church, a father 
and mother, and an only child who is old enough to 
believe and obey. There are thousands of house- 
holds in this world where there are no infants. In- 
fant baptism is a hollow mockery, the offspring of 
papacy, arid it is a matter for rejoicing that the cus- 
tom is rapidly losing ground among the more intelli- 
gent Protestants of the age. The babe in its sweet 
innocence needs no priestly attentions. And as for 
consecrating it to the Lord, every parent should do 
that before it is born. If your little one dies unbap- 
tized, don't imagine it will go to perdition because 
the preacher didn't christen it. Jesus says, "Suffer 
the little children to come unto me, for of such is the 
kingdom of Heaven." He would not have said this 
if our babies were considered little sinners. When 
they grow up to accountability, and become penitent 
believers in Christ, then, and not till then, will they 
be fit subjects for Christian Baptism. 

We now come to what is perhaps the m.ost inter- 
esting portion of this discussion: — 

How ARE WE TO BAPTIZE ? 

"Well, it doesn't make any difference," says one, 
"You can sprinkle, or pour, or immerse," and 
I heard of one preacher who simply touched 
the forehead of his candidates with the tips of 
his fingers. So here are four different styles 
offered us, and over in Kansas I attended a revi- 
val service one night conducted by a still more 
Hberal fellow. At the close of his meeting he had a 
lot of people to be baptized, and he gave them their 
choice as to the mode (so-called) of baptism. So they 
went down to the river and he sprinkled some, and a 



l62 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 

few he poured, and a few more he immersed (or 
rather he pushed them over in the water, as some 
preachers do who do not believe in the necessity of 
immersion); and a few he dipped three times. And 
then there were some who didn't believe in water 
baptism at all, whom he commended to the Friends, 
where they preached Holy Ghost baptism only. So 
here were five different varieties of baptism, so- 
called. Certainly Kansas leads! 

I have in my library a little black book, which 
officially represents one of the largest Protestant 
bodies of America, On page 42 I find these words: — 
"Let every adult person, and the parents of every 
child to be baptized, have the choice of either sprin- 
kling, pouring or immersion." But I do not find any 
such language in the Bible. God never authorized 
sprinkling or pouring for Christian Baptism, and it is 
presumptuous for any people to place these human 
enactments on a level with immersion, the divinely 
appointed way. Not one of the apostles ever practiced 
pouring or sprinkling, for it was not thought of until 
250 years after the dawn of the Christian era. Then 
it was introduced in cases of death-bed repentance. 
At first they poured a large quantity of water upon 
the individual wishing baptism, perhaps several gal- 
lons. Then less and less as the years rolled by, until 
a quart was deemed sufficient, and finally a few drops. 
But not until the year 13 11, at the Roman Catholic 
Council of Ravenna, were sprinkling and pouring 
ecclesiastically recognized as equally valued with im- 
mersion. So those who teach and practice sprinkling 
and pouring do so on their own authority, and they 
ought not to try to substantiate their position by 
quotations from the Bible. The Catholics are more 
consistent in the matter than the Protestants. They 
sprinkle and pour by the authority of the pope, 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 163 

who they think has power to change the form of 
baptism, or anything else he wishes changed from the 
apstolic order. Every intelligent archbishop, bishop, 
or learned priest in this great city will tell you that 
immersion was the ancient form of baptism, but the 
Council of Ravenna changed it. But the Greek 
Catholics have never yet degenerated to this custom, 
but universally practice immersion for Christian Bap- 
tism. As the church is nearly 100,000,000 strong,and 
uses the language in which the New Testament was 
originally promulgated, we have in their attitude an 
invincible argument in favor of immersion. If Protes- 
tants must sprinkle and pour, let them give Romanists 
credit for the innovation, and not endeavor to up- 
hold the practice by distorting the Word of God. 

But how are we to baptize.^ What do the Scriptures 
teach? Let us read first. Matt. 3:5,6. "Then went 
out to him Jerusalem and all Judea, and all the re- 
gion round about Jordan, and were baptized of Him 
in Jordan,' confessing their sins.'' Yes, all the region 
round about Jordan, — ^hundreds, thousands, and tens 
of thousands of people, turned out to hear John 
preach. He was clothed in camel's hair and wore a 
leather girdle about his loins, and his food was locusts 
and wild honey. He probably had a stump or a stone 
for a pulpit, away out in the wilderness. Very clearly, 
very plainly, very sharply he spoke to them, and 
hundreds and thousands were baptized, because his 
language impressed them, and because the demands 
of that language made them want to forsake their 
sins. They were baptized in Jordan, ^^hioh indicates 
immersion. 

Mark 1:8-11. "I indeed have baptized you with 
water, but He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost. 
And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came 
from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John 



164 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 

in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the 
water,he saw the Heavens opened, and the Spirit like 
a dove descending upon Him: And there came a 
voice from heaven saying, Thou art my beloved Son, 
in whom I am well pleased." Oh, I love to read the 
account of how our Master came from His home jn 
Nazareth, and went to John to be baptized. But John 
said, "No, I have need to be baptized of thee, and 
comest thou to me.'*" And Jesus said, "Sufier it to 
be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all right- 
eousness." Then he suffered him, and He went down 
into the water and cam.e up straightway out of the 
watets and as He came up the Spirit of God lighted 
upon Him and a voice said, "Thou art my beloved 
Son, in whom I am well pleased." Listen! The first 
time God ever by audible voice acknowledged Jesus 
CO be His only begotten Son was at His baptism. And 
the first time you or I have the right to claim to be 
sons of God is when, like Jesus, we are baptized. He 
was our example in all things. He went dowii into 
the watery and came up straightzvay out of the water. 
Immersion alone can satisfy the demands of this 
passage. 

John 3:23. "And John also was baptizing in ^Enon 
near Salim, because there was much water there; and 
they came and were baptized." What was he bap- 
tizing at iEnon for.'^ Because there was much water 
there. "Well, they wanted that water for culinary 
purposes," says one. How do you know so much 
when you perhaps have never been out of your own 
state, much less visited the Holy Land? I think that 
is begging the question; those who resort to the cu- 
linary dodge in this instance are certainly in sore 
straits for an argument. No, John was baptizing at 
iEnon because the water was of sufficient depth there 
to do it right. He was burying the people beneath 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 165 

its shining waves. We see that immersion is the 
only action that meets the demands of this language. 

Colossians 2:12. "Buried with him. in baptism, 
wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith 
of the operation of God, who hath raised him from 
the dead." How do you bury anything? Do you 
sprinkle or pour just a little dirt over it? Oh, no! 
You overwhelm it, you put it under, you cover it up. 
You see immersion is demanded by the language of 
this text. 

I am reminded of a little incident. You know 
Baptist preachers always immerse when they baptize 
at all, and yet Doctor McArthur of New York says 
that Baptists let more people die unbaptized than 
any other, because they don't believe it essential to 
salvation. It is strange to me that if not essential, 
they should be so particular as to require baptism in 
order to church membership. According to the logic 
of their own theory it is easier to go to Heaven than 
to join the Baptist Church. And then, if baptism is 
not essential anyhow, why be so particular about its 
action? This is too much like a nice cow giving a 
good pail of milk and then kicking it over. — Well, to 
the story. Once upon a time a Baptist preacher 
preached to the Indians, and immersed a great many 
of them. After a while a Methodist preacher came 
along and labored in the same territory. He was 
quite energetic, full of life and enthusiasm, and quite 
a number came into his church on six months' "sus- 
picion," among the number one big fellow from the 
Baptist brother's flock. The day finally came to 
take them into full membership, and the preacher 
prepared to sprinkle them. On such occasions they 
have a whole lot of stuff they have to read, you know; 
he read, and the candidates came forward, this big red 
man with the rest. When the minister had finished 



l66 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 

reading his little Discipline, he brought out a bowi of 
water, and signaled to his converts to make ready. 
The big Indian said, "What you going to do with that 
bowl of water, my friend?" 

"I am going to baptize j^ou." 

"Oh, no!" said the candidate, "me can't get in that 
bowl — me too big," 

The Indian understood that baptism was a burial^ 
and he knew very well that an Indian weighing two 
hundred pounds could never be buried in a quart of 
water. 

Romans 6:3-5. "Know ye not that so many of us 
as were baptized into Jesus Christ v^ere baptized into 
his death? Therefore we are buried with him by 
baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up 
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so 
we also shall walk in newness of life. For if we have 
been planted together in the likeness of his death, we 
shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." We 
see from this reference that baptism is a burialy a 
planting. How do you plant anything? Lay it on 
top of the ground, and then come around and won- 
der why the thing don't grow? No, you put it under 
the ground, and after a while the seed dies and a little 
sprout comes up. In like manner we plant, or bury, 
the "old man," the man of sin, in the watery grave, 
and he comes forth a new creature, — born again "of 
the water and the Spirit," — born for a new, higher 
and better life. Immersion only can satisfy the de- 
mands of this beautiful passage. 

I recall another incident. It is a trifle rough on 
sprinkling, but it puts things in a way you will not soon 
forget. You may forget me, but I do not want you to 
forget the truth I bring you; hence I use every legiti- 
mate means I can to clinch what I say. — An old 
preacher was once sprinkling a baby and during the 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 167 

service he reao Rom. 6:4. ("Therefore we are buried 
with him by baptism.") Then he put a Httle water on 
the head of the child. After meeting he went home. 
Tommy, his bright young hopeful, accompanied him. 

"Now don't be too sarcastic, Brother Hall,'* I 
imagine somebody saying. Well, sprinkling and 
pouring scarcely deserve anything but ridicule in this 
enlightened age. You don't like sarcasm.? Ah, that 
usually depends entirely on whose side the sarcasm 
is presented. And I must say if ever any church 
was ridiculed on account of the firm stand we 
have taken on this subject, the Christian Church has 
been; but when we come back with the same shot 
and shell it is all wrong! But we have good examples 
in the Scriptures for the employment of sarcasm, — 
Elijah, for instance, at the trial on Mount Carmel. 

Well, the old minister sat down in his study to pre- 
pare for his evening sermon. As he was pondering, 
he happened to look out of the window, and to his 
surprise and regret saw that "old Aunt Rhody," the 
pet gray goose, was dead. 

"Tommy," called he, "you see the old gray goose 
is dead." 

"Yes," said Tommy. 

"Well, go bury the goose, my son." 

"All right," said Tomrnyo 

He went out and dragged her down into the or- 
chard, and looking aroundwith a sparkle in his eye, 
he picked up a handful of dirt and solemnly sprinkled 
it on the head of the poor old fowl. Meanwhile the 
old gentleman was absorbed in his cogitations. But 
presently he looked up, and, wiping his spectacles, he 
saw, to his amazement, the old goose lying there 
unburied. 

"Tommy, come here!" he cried. "Didn't I tell 
you to bury the goose.?" 

"Yes — yes sir. I — I did, father." 



l68 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 

"Why, you didn't either, you little scoundrel. Will 
you presume not only to disobey, but to lie to your 
old father? Look! Do not mine eyes behold the 
goose?" 

"Well, father, I buried the goose just like you 
buried that little baby this morning." 

Out upon the inconsistency, the incongruity, the 
mockery of calling sprinkling a burial! Would to 
God that men might learn to exercise common sense 
in matters of religion. 

Acts 8:36, 37, 38. "And as they went on the 
way, they came unto a certain water, and the eunuch 
said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be 
baptized? And Philip said, If thou belie vest with. all 
thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and 
said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 
And he commanded the chariot to stand still, and 
they went down both into the water, both Philip and 
the eunuch; and he baptized him." Yes — the eunuch 
was reading over in the Old Testament in the proph- 
ecy of Isaiah, but he did not comprehend what he 
was reading. So an angel spake to Philip and told 
him to go and join himself to the chariot of the 
euunch. He went, and "preached to him Jesus." Oh, 
for more Jesus-preaching to-day! This man evidently 
knew nothing about Jesus or His doctrine and yet 
we find him in a little while requesting baptism. The 
only way to account for this is that Philip had 
preached to him the necessity of Christian Baptism. 
And I want to say that no man can preach Jesus 
completely, comprehensively, faithfully, unless he 
does preach baptism, for it is one of Jesus' com- 
mandments. 

After he had preached Jesus, the eunuch said, "See, 
here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized." 
And Philip said, "If thou believest with all thine heart, 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 169 

thou mayest." The eunuch said, "I believe that Jesus 
Christ is the Son of God." And he stopped the chariot, 
and with Philip went right down into the water and 
was baptized, whereupon he went on his way re- 
joicing. 

With these humble hands I have immersed hun- 
dreds of penitent believers, and I have yet to hear 
one say, '*I am sorry." No, they all go on their way 
rejoicing, for it is right. Not one of the large num- 
ber who have been immersed during our meetings will 
ever be dissatisfied with their baptism. But, oh, how 
many who are sprinkled or poured become dissatis- 
fied! Let me put the question right here: How 
many of my auditors present were at one time 
sprinkled or poured but afterwards became dissatis- 
fied with the same, and sought immersion? (A large 
number raised their hands.) 

Now let me put it the other way: — How many of 
you, who at any time in your life were immersed, 
became dissatisfied with it, feared it was not Scrip- 
tural, and sought sprinkling or pouring? Not a single 
hand goes up! In a preponderance of evidence there 
is conviction. Actions speak louder than words. 
There are millions of people in this country who will 
not accept any other form of baptism than immersion. 
On the other hand the millions who accept sprinkling 
and pouring, also accept immersion. For God's sake 
and for humanity's sake, why can't our Pedo-baptist 
friends throw away their affusion and practice only 
that which everybody knows to be right ? It would 
be a mighty step in the direction of Christian union. 

But I recall another story. It is very clear that 
immersion only can satisfy the demands of the lan- 
guage used by Luke in describing the eunuch's bap- 
tism. And yet there are ministers who try to make 
a case of affusion out of it. There was an old lady, 



I70 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 

who had been sprinkled, and after reading this ac- 
count of Phih'p baptizing the eunuch, and the other 
accounts of conversion recorded in Acts, she was 
much troubled, almost concluding that she must be 
immersed. She finally decided to go and see her 
pastor about it. Accordingly she went over to the 
parsonage and called for Brother Smith. The rev- 
erend gentleman was a very smooth talker, and very 
nice, being particularly noted for his sociability and 
sprightliness of manner, much more than for his in- 
tellectual attainments. The old lady told him her 
trouble, and said she was afraid she had not been 
baptized. She called attention to Acts 8:38, in par- 
ticular, citing the fact that "they both went down 
into the water." 

"Oh," said the pastor, "I can explain that passage 
to you very satisfactorily, I think." 

"Then I will be exceedingly grateful, "said she, "for 
I have been greatly worried over the matter. It 
seems to me that immersion only can satisfy the de- 
mands of this passage," 

"Well, I will endeavor to show you conclusively 
that it don't make any difference whether we sprinkle, 
pour or immerse," said the accommodating clergyman. 
You see they were crossing a sandy desert" (but there 
is no proof of this assertion). 

"Yes, I see," said the old lady, becoming inter- 
ested. 

"And in the eunuch's preparation for this long 
journey he doubtless placed refreshments in his 
chariot," continued the pastor. 

"Yes, I see," interjected his docile parishioner. 
(Preachers are often to blame for the stupidity of 
people.) 

"Among other things probably was a jug of water," 
went on the brilliant teacher. "And after Philip had 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM I7I 

led the eunuch to the cress, the latter expressed a 
desire to receive baptism." 

"Yes, I see. Praise the Lord!" exclaimed the de- 
vout old lady. 

"Thereupon," continued the cunning shepherd, 
"Philip said, If thou believest thou mayest. The 
eunuch declared his heartfelt faith in the Son of God 
and reaching down beneath his seat drev/ forth the 
jug, saying. Here is water, what doth hinder me to 
be baptized.^" 

"Oh, now I see it all clearly," fairly shouted the 
old sister. "And they both zvent down into t he Jug, 
didn't they.?" 

I have now proven from the Scriptures, first, that 
Christian baptism is a positive divine commandment. 
Second, that it \s for.or in order unto, i, entrance into 
the Kingdom, or the new birth; 2, washing away of 
sins; 3, the putting on of Christ; 4, salvation, and 
the answer of a good conscience toward God. Third, 
that only penitent believers are fit subjects for bap- 
tism, and, fourth, that immersion only can satisfy the 
demands of Holy Writ as to the action. I might 
give other references, but it seems to me that I have 
offered enough to convince any im,partial and honest 
man. I am satisfied to leave these references with you, 
and if you will take them and study them carefully, 
you cannot but be content with the conclusion that 
immersion satisfies every demand of the language of 
the Scriptures, while sprinkling and pouring do not. 

"But why is it, then, that so many churches practice 
sprinkling and pouring?" says one. "My father and 
mother were sprinkled, and my old grandmother was 
sprinkled. They lived and died good earnest church 
members. Have they gone to hell?" 

That is not for me to say. I don't suppose they 
have, if they lived up to all the light they had. But 



172 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 

I say that you have greater light, and you will have 
no such excuse as a lack of light by which to squeeze 
yourself into heaven. If you reach the Gates of Pearl 
at all it will be by believing and obeying for yourself. 
Your father, or wife, can't go to heaven for you. It 
is an individual matter. And I declare to you, with 
Bible in hand, that there is no promise that you will 
ever see God unless you are baptized, and that by 
immersion. 

Now as far as I am concerned, Bible facts, just as 
they appear in the King James Version, are good 
enough for me. But perhaps there may be those pres- 
ent who are inclined to be critical, and would like to 
know what learned men have to say concerning the 
form of baptism. Well, I can satisfy that class, I guess, 
for I hold in my hand a copy of what is in some re- 
spects the best work ever published on this subject. 
The simple title of the book is -immersion. '* The 
author, Dr. Jno. T. Christian, has collected the most 
expert testimony of the scholastic world concerning 
the primary meaning of the Greek word baptizo. It is 
well known that our New Testament Greek word 
baptize is baptizo. In translating the Scriptures into 
our language, this word was simply given an English 
termination, and transferred untranslated. This was 
done to avoid controversy, it seems, but the scheme 
was unsuccessful. So in order to know just what 
the word means we must have it translated by com- 
petent authorities. A few of these translations I will 
now quote: — 

(i) LiDDELL & Scott, in the seventh edition of 
their great Greek lexicon, define baptizo as follows: 
"To dip in or under water." 

(2) Cremer, third edition: "To immerse, to sub- 
merge. The peculiar New Testament and Chris- 
tian use of the word to denote immersion, submersion 
for a religious purpose — baptize." 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 173 

(3) Thayer, Professor of New Testament criticism 
and interpretation in Harvard University: "To dip 
repeatedly, to immerse, to submerge. In the New- 
Testament it is used particularly of the rite of sacred 
ablution, first instituted by John the Baptist, after- 
wards by Christ's command received by Christians 
and adjusted to the nature and contents of their re- 
ligion, viz., an immersion in water." 

(4) Fradensdorf, of the Taylor Institute, defines 
baptizein and baptein as follows: "To baptize, to 
dip." 

(5) Pope, of the Berlin Gymnasium: "To dip in, 
to dip under." 

(6) Stephanus, in his Thesaurus of the Greek 
language, defines <5<^///-a'6>," to merge, to immerse, also 
to dip." 

(7) Sophocles, a native Greek, and for 38 years 
Professor of Greek in Harvard University, in his lex- 
icon of Greek usages in the Roman and Byzantine 
periods, B.C. 146 — A; D. iioo, defines the word as 
follows: "To dip, to immerse, to sink. There is no 
evidence that Luke and Paul and the other writers of 
the New Testament put upon this verb meanings not 
recognized by the Greeks." 

(8) BuLLiNGER,in his Greek Lexicon and Concord- 
ance, says: ''^Baptizo, to make a thing dipped or 
dyed; to immerse for a religious purpose. By baptism 
therefore we must understand an immersion, whose 
design, like that of the Levitical washings, and puri- 
fication, was united with the washing away of sin." 

(9) Dr. Anthon, one of America's best classical 
scholars: "The primary meaning of the word is to dip, 
or immerse, and its secondary meanings, if it ever had 
any, all refer to the same leading idea. Sprinkling 

, and pouring are entirely out of the question^ 

(10) Scapula: "To merge, to immerse; also dye, 



174 CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 

as we immerse things for the purpose of coloring or 
washing them.'' 

(ii) Green: "To dip, to immerse." 

(12) DoNNEGAN, "To immerse repeatedly in a 
liquid, to submerge." 

(13) Greenfield: "To immerse, to immerge, to 
submerge, to sink." 

(14) Groves: "To dip, to immerse, to immerge, 
to plunge." 

(15) Schleusner: "Properly to immerse, to dip, 
to immerse in water." 

(16) Robinson: "To dip in, to sink, to im- 
merse." 

(17) Bagster: "To dip, to immerse, to cleanse 
or purify by washing; to administer the rite of bap- 
tism." 

(18) Stokius: "Properly speaking it is a dipping 
or an immersion in water." 

(19) Webster, in his unabridged,- gives the pri- 
mary meaning, "To dip." 

(20) Encyclopoedia Britannica, Vol. III., Page 
348: "To dip or wash," 

(2 1 J F. Brenner, in a very learned work, says: 
"For 1300 years was baptism generally and ordi- 
narily performed by the immersion of a man under 
water, and only in extraordinary cases was sprinkling 
or affusion permitted. These latter methods of bap- 
tism were called in question and even prohibited." 

(22) Cardinal Gibbons, the foremost of American 
Catholics, says: "For several hundred years after 
the establishment of Christianity,baptism was usually 
conferred by immersion; but since the twelfth cen- 
tury the practice of baptizing by affusion has prevailed 
in the Catholic Church, as this manner is attended 
with less inconvenience than baptism by immersion." 

(23) Bishop Potter, of New York, in a recent 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 1 75 

letter, says: "I am quite free to say that the literal 
meaning of baptizo^2J^ ordinarily found in classical 
writers, is usually to plunge, to dip, immerse, or what- 
ever word you want to strengthen your position." 

(24) Bishop Keane, President of the Catholic Uni- 
versity at Washington, D.C., says: "The best diction- 
aries show the classical meaning cf the Greek word 
baptizeiit is primarily to plunge, to dip.'' 

(25) Bishop Coxe, Editor of the American edition 
of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, says: "The word {bap- 
tizo) means to dip." 

(26) John Calvin, the founder of Presbyterianism, 
says: "The word baptize signifies to immerse, and it 
is certain that the rite of immersion was observed by 
the ancient church." {Inst.^ Book ^, ck, 75.) 

(27) John WESLEY,the founder of Methodism, says 
in his Journal, Vol.1., p. 20, under date of Feb. 21, 
1736: "Mary Welch, aged 11 days, was baptized 
according to the custom of the first church, and the 
rule of the Church of England, by immersio7z. The 
child was ill then, but recovered from that very hour." 
And in his comments on Rom. 6:4, he says: "Buried 
with him^ — alluding to the ancient manner of baptiz- 
ing by immersion." 

(2S) Martin Luther said: "Those who are bap- 
tized should be deeply immersed.'' 

(29) DoLLiNGER, says: ''Baptism by immersion 
continued to be the prevailing practice of the church 
as late as the 14th century." 

(30) Prof. MosesStuart, of Andover, says: The mode 
of baptism by immersion, the Oriental (Greek) Church 
has always continued to preserve, even down to the 
present time. The members of this church are accus- 
tomed to call the members ot the Western churches 
sprinkledChristians^hy way of ridicule and contempt." 

Here is a splendid array ot evidence, and had I the 



176 



CHRISTIAN BAPTISM 



time I might easily double it, for all the best author- 
ities of the world are agreed as to the meaning of 
baptizoyihe^ovd our Saviour used in the Great Com- 
mission. When it comes to a question of scholar- 
ship, of fact, they are compelled to agree, no matter 
what church they represent. I am aware that many 
good and great men think that immersion is not ab- 
solutely necessary; that sprinkling or pouring will do 
just as v/ell. But I question any man's right to sub- 
stitute his think so for God's plain say so. It seems 
to me sminl presumption. And for my part it seems 
to me that if I were in your place I would not re- 
main contented as a "sprinkled Christian" twenty- 
four hours. I would obey the Lord Jesus in this mat- 
ter rather than man. 

So I leave the matter with you and your God, but 
beg of you to come, believe, repent, confess, and be 
Scripturaily baptized. It is the Lord's own way, and 
hence the only true way. If you honestly follow this 
way you will gain peace of soul and the full assurance 
for which your poor heart craves to-night. Come, 
therefore, and be honest with God, be honest with 
self. Settle the matter once for all, and settle it 
right! The Bible teaches that immersion is the only 
form of Christian baptism. The best scholars of 
earth admit that it was the Apostolic practice. All 
churches accept it as genuine. Then why wait? Be 
immersed at once in the name of the Father, Son, and 
Holy Spirit, and you will never doubt again! 



EXCUSES. 

"Then said he unto him: A certain man made a great feast and 
bade many; and sent his servants at supper time to say to them that 
were bidden: Come, for all things are now ready. And they all 
with one accord began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I 
have bought a piece of ground and I must needs go and see it; I 
pray thee have me excused. And another said: I have bought five 
yoke of oxen and I go to prove them; I pray thee have me excused. 
And another said: I have married a wife and therefore I cannot 
come. So that servant came and showed his lord these things. Then 
the master of the house being angry said to his servant: Go out 
quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in hither the 
poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant 
said; Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is 
room. And the Lord said unto the servant: Go out into the high- 
ways and hedges and compel them to come in; that my house may be 
filled. For I say unto you, that none of those men which were 
bidden shall taste of my supper. And there went great multitudes 
with him." Luke 14:16-25. 

Mr, Moody, I believe, once remarked that "all 
excuses are lies." I could hardly endorse the great 
evangelist in so sweeping a statement. I believe that 
some excuses are honestly made, and w^ith the best 
intentions; but I believe that the vast majority of ex- 
cuses are false. They do not correspond with facts. 

Many a young man sometimes gives an excuse 
which he knov/s is not reasonable. Conscience com- 
mands him to do something that appetite, passion, 
or pride prefer not to do, and he feels that he must 
make some excuse. He advances an argument which 
he knows is not con.^^isient, and so the vast majority 

177 



178 EXCUSES 

of excuses are, as Mr. Moody says, lies. In some 
matters, of course, there can be excuses that are 
reasonable and worthy of notice. But when it comes 
to this great question of the soul and its relationship 
to the Lord Jesus Christ, I don't think there is any 
reasonable excuse in the universe for non-obedience. 

In this beautiful parable of the Marriage Feast, we 
have an account of a very wealthy man making a great 
feast for his son. I don't know how this man got 
his money. Possibly by buying articles at a big dis- 
count for cash and selling them at 400 per cent profit, 
claiming all the time that he was selling at cost. That 
is the way some people get rich nowadays. They 
solemnly declare that they are selling you a piano or 
a buggy at cost, and to prove their statement bring 
out a catalogue and shovv^ you the net price. But 
they fail to inform you that from said price there 
is a discount of 50 per cent if paid within 30 days ! An 
old proverb truly says, "There are tricks in all 
trades.^' There is a great deal of m.ental reservation 
in this modern way of ''selling at cost." Many ad- 
vertisements are merely endless chains of deception. 
I once heard Professor Radford say that "all kinds of 
deceiving is lying.'' 

It may be that the nobleman of this parable got 
rich buying up all the corn in Judea and then holding 
it until it trebled in value — what is term.ed in modern 
parlance, cornering the market. Or it may be he got 
rich loaning money at extortionate rates of interest. 
Many do this in the present decade, and when the 
assessor comes around in the spring, you would think 
they were the very poorest men in the country, for 
they having nothing taxable — thei}' prope^'ty is ahvays 
in some othei' person' s name. 

There was an old farmer who had a great deal of 
trouble keeping his grain bags at home. His neigh- 



EXCUSES 



179 



bors would come for miles to borrow his "sacks," and 
it became a serious annoyance. He studied and 
studied how to remedy the matter, and finally, after 
much cogitation, he discovered a successful plan. He 
made a large box and marked it "U-S-E.'^ So when 
his neighbors would come to borrow his sacks for a 
few days, he would say, "Well now, it is really too 
bad, but they are all in use to-day!" Of course he 
referred to his pet box, but the would-be borrower was 
left ignorant of the true status of affairs. The sacks 
were in use with a in€7ttal reservation. 

That was one way of accomplishing a legitimate 
purpose, but would it not have been better to have 
said that he did not like to loan his sacks? I believe 
it would have paid the old fellow to have been hon- 
est, as he undoubtedly lost the friendship and con- 
fidence of his neighbors when they found out his trick, 

Well, this nobleman of the parable was evidently 

a rich man, and I presume that he amassed his for- 
tune by practicing some such scheme as those just 
mentioned. And yet he may have got it honestly, 
for there are a few rich people in the world who 
gained their competence honestly. But the probabil- 
ity is that if he was worth a million dollars or more 
he got it dishonestly. It is said — and I believe truly 
so—that no man can make a million dollars honestly 
in his lifetime. The time may come within a hun- 
dred years when one can, but it can't be done now. 

At any rate this man was rich, and his son was go- 
ing to be married, and the father determined to 
spread a splendid supper. He would make a grand 
affair of the occasion, and excel all similar events in 
the history of the city. Said he to his wife, "Our 
neighbor on the left had a big wedding for his son, 
but we m.ust have something a good deal better than 
that. And you remember our neighbor on the right 



l8o EXCUSES 

also made quite a display for his son. So we must 
show them that they do not know even the first 
principles of a *sweir wedding." With this I imag- 
ine he commenced to enlarge and beautify his place. 
He engaged a force of painters, and furniture repair- 
ers and carpenters, and went to work. In a few days 
his mansion was overhauled from garret to cellar, 
inside and outside. His fences and lawns and sta- 
bles were also given attention. At last everything was 
ready and he said, "Now we will send out invita- 
tions." Calling in his head servant he said, "Go over 
to Judge Blank's and invite him to my son's wed- 
ding." The servant went and said, "My master 
sends his compliments and wants to see you and your 
wife at the wedding." 

"At the wedding!" exclaimed the Judge. "Who 
is going to be married?" 

"My Master's son— next Wednesday." 

"Well, well," grunted the Judge, looking at his 
notebook, "I am very sorry, but I have another en- 
gagement for Wednesday. I have bought some lots 
over in Joppa, and must go over and look at them. 
I am very sorry, but tell your Master I will have to 
be excused." 

Now I fear that man was deceiving his neighbor. 
He evidently did not give the true reason for wishing 
to be excused. It is probable that there was a little 
jealousy between his family and that of the noble- 
man, and he didn't have any great interest in the 
latter's son's wedding, — but he would send his re- 
grets and keep up appearances. 

Another servant was sent over to the Hon. Mr. 
High-flyer's. After the usual bowing and scraping 
he said, "Come over to the wedding next Wednes- 
day." 

"Who is going to be married?" 



EXCUSES l8l 

"My Master's son John." 

"Well, I am glad to hear that, for John is a good 
fellovv^ — whom is he going to marry?" 

"Miss Elite." 

"That is a splendid match indeed, but I fear it will 
be impossible for me to be there, as I have an impor- 
tant engagement lor that day." 

"Well, that is too bad, for my Master will be 
sorely disappointed. As he will want to know the 
reason, what shall I tell him.?" 

"Tell him I have bought five yoke of oxen and I 
have to go Wednesday to prove them." 

Now that was evidently a falsehood, for you would 
never catch a Jew buying a yoke of oxen without 
knowing beforehand that they were worth all that 
he paid for them. Whatever his reason was he with- 
held it from the servant. But desiring to keep up 
appearances he formed the best excuse he could 
think of and thus politely refused the invitation. 

Another servant called at the home of Professor 
Sleek, a young man who had recently entered upon 
life's sterner duties. He and John had been college 
friends, and both had wanted to marry the same girl, 
but the Professor won her. So when the servant de- 
livered the invitation, a haughty spirit took posses- 
sion of the proud victor. 

"What, John going to be married.? Well, good 
for him; I would be delighted to go, but really now, I 
can't, for I have just got married myself, and there- 
fore I cannot come." 

i\nybody knows that this excuse is not reasonable, 
for if there is any event on the face of the green earth 
that a young married woman, or an old one either, 
delights in celebrating, it is a wedding. And yet this 
doughty young Professor laid the blame all on his 
wife ! 



l82 EXCUSES 

Now all these excuses were transparently unrea- 
sonable. The whole sum and substance of the mat- 
ter is that those dignitaries who were invited did not 
want to go. When the servants returned from their 
fruitless mission and delivered the particulars to their 
Master he v/as much incensed, and said, "Very well, 
if my bon-ton neighbors cut me like that, go out into 
the city and invite everybody. Bring in the poor, 
the lame, the halt and the blind — invite everybody. 
Tell them to come to the wedding, for my banquet 
hall must be full." 

And the servants said, "Lord, it is done as thou 
hast commanded, and yet there is room." 

And the nobleman said, "Go out quickly and com- 
pel them to come in." 

We are not told the final result, but I suppose the 
banquet hall was filled, and they had a royal wed- 
ding. 

The application is very simple: God invited his 
chosen people, the Israelites, to the service of his 
son, but they would not come. John gives a touch- 
ing account of their refusal in what I think to be one 
of the saddest verses in the Bible,— "He came unto 
his own and his own received him not." (John i:ii.) 
Upon their refusal God said to his servants, "Go out 
quickly then into all the world and preach the gos- 
pel to everybody. Go to the Gentiles as well as to 
the lost sheep of the House of Israel and compel 
them to come to the feast." He does not send us 
out with swords and shot-guns to compel the people 
to come in. No, no! We are not to compel by phys- 
ical force, but by the force of a loving sympathy and 
living truth. This force is equal to every emergency, 
for it is the power of heaven itself. 

God's only begotten Son is to be married, and 
the great banquet is to be served in the halls of 



EXCUSES 183 

heaven. It is being prepared now for that great com- 
pany who have accepted and will yet accept the in- 
vitation delivered by His servants. Yes, God's Son 
is to be married to his Church! 

In this connection is beautifully shown the wonder- 
ful relationship we hold to the Son of God. Paul 
speaks of the Church as the Bride, and Jesus as 
the Bridegroom. What does a bride usually wear? 
Why, spotless white, of course. And she is sup- 
posed to be as pure as the angels of heaven, full of 
love and trust. All the time of the engagement, 
w^hether one year,five years,or ten years, doesn't the 
bridegroom expect the bride to remain perfectly 
loyal to him? And in like manner we should be 
clothed in garments of righteousness and be ready to 
go in unto Christ to the great wedding feast of eternal 
love and happiness. The spacious halls of glory are 
being rapidly filled. Thousands and tens of thou- 
sands have already gone on before us and are sitting 
down at the great banquet tables. The Great King's 
servants have gone to almost every nation under the 
sun and are inviting the whole human race to come. 
Oh, what a gathering that will be when at last the 
task is done! 

As one of God's servants I invite you to-night to 
Come. I invite you to get ready for the great feast. 
I invite you to accept my Master's precious invita- 
tion. I have been pleading with you for weeks now 
to get ready for this event of all events. Many 
have come and have put on the robes of righteous- 
ness and are prepared to stand at the Father's right 
hand. But many others have said, "No, we won't 
com.e/' Not in words have you said this,but by ac- 
tions. And my purpose to-night is, if possible, to 
search out your excuse for this dangerous course, and 
show vou how unwarranted it is. 



184 EXCUSES 

In my work among the people I have preached to 
hundreds and thousands, and I find very few if any 
young people who do not expect sometime to become 
Christians; and very few old people but what expect, 
sooner or later, to prepare for the great Judgment 
Day. My brethren say my work has been very suc- 
cessful, and yet of the thousands who have heard me 
I presume that less than ten per cent have accepted 
the gospel invitation. They all intend to accept it 
some day, but fully ninety per cent refuse to do so for 
the time being. I presume it is so with other 
evangelists. 

Why do ninety per cent, of the unsaved go away 
postponing the matter so indefinitely? I will give you 
a few of the many excuses I have heard and see if I 
can show you their utter futility. I believe that I can 
show you that every excuse for staying away from 
Jesus is contrary to reason and contrary to Scripture, 

First, I approach a young man, and say, "Why 
don*t you come to Christ? You are twenty-one 
years old; your father and mother have been faithful 
Christians before you, and you have bright prospects 
for life. Why don't you come to Christ? Your de- 
voted mother stood up here the other niorning and 
asked us to pray for you. You are letting this meet- 
ing pass without accepting Jesus. Oh, why don't 
you come?" 

"Well, the truth is I want to sow my wild oats 
first. After I have all the fan I want in youth I will 
settle down. But I don't think there is any necessity 
for me to worry about my soul just at present." 

Do you know that almost 95 per cent of the young 
men of the United States are not Christians? It has 
been estimated that only 5 per cent of the young men 
of the country are nominal followers of Jesus. About 
75 per cent never darken a church door from one 



EXCUSES 185 

month's end to another. A vast majority of our 
young men are sowing their wild oats, and I presume 
there can be found no more common excuse among 
this class for not becoming Christians — for not ac- 
cepting the invitation to the marriage feast of the 
Lamb. While one of the most common, it is also 
one of the most dangerous of excuses. Mr. Hughes, 
in his story of Tom Brown at Oxford, calls it the 
devir s maxi7n. He says, "Take it all in all, in all 
the wide range of accepted British maxims, there is 
none more abominable than this one, as to sowing of 
wild oats. The only thing to do with wild oats is to 
put them carefully into the hottest part of the fire 
and get them burnt to dust, every seed of them.'' Re- 
member that whatsoever you sow that shall you also 
reap, and nothing else. If it is bad seed that you 
sow, it will be a bad harvest that you will reap. It 
does not take very much reasoning to prove the truth- 
fulness of this conclusion. Mr. Hughes is right. And 
a greater than Mr. Hughes has said, "God is not 
mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he 
also reap." (Gal. 6:7.) I tell you, young man, if you 
sow idleness, the probability is that you will reap 
poverty in middle life and old age. If you sow dis- 
sipation, you cannot fail to gather its fruits of bitter- 
ness in after years. If you sow blasphemy, you will 
reap opprobrium. The young man who gives way 
to passion, appetite and lust, will find himself, Vv^hen 
old, with poisoned body and wicked mind, and it will 
take years and years, if he ever succeeds, to wipe 
the stains from his soul. 

Oh, don't sow anything that you don't want to 
reap! Sow seed that will keep you respectable and 
useful and bring you a rich harvest of felicity. Don't 
stay away from Christ for the purpose of sowing wild 
oats! It is the most foolhardy thing you ever con- 



l86 EXCUSES 

templated doing. Sow the good seed of obedience to 
Christ and reap an abundant crop of peace and joy and 
love. 

All things being equal, the young man in the church 
has the "inside track"to-day. The pastor was recently 
telling me about a certain young man in this church 
who occupied an important position on the pay car 
of a great railway corporation. He was taken ill after 
several years of service, and the authorities came to 
the church for another to fill his place. Shrewd 
business men want honest, trustworthy employees, and 
when there is a vacancy at their command they look 
for some one to fill it who has good moral principles. 
From a business standpoint alone you can't afford to 
remain away from Christ. To join the church and 
live up faithfully to your profession is to reap an 
abundant harvest of prosperity. 

Turning to another 1 say, "Why don't you come.? 
We have been praying for you, lo, these many days. 
Why don't you accept the invitation to the marriage 
feast of the Lamb.?'' 

Listen to a familiar reply. "I think it is my duty, 
but I don't /^^/ like it just yet." 

Ah, and is that your excuse.? In what passage of 
the Bible does it say you must/^^/like it before obey- 
ing the commands of God.? Please place your finger 
on the chapter and verse! Does the Apostle Paul 
or Peter say anything dJoowi feeling ]VLSt right? Did 
Philip the evangelist ever say it wouldn't do to be- 
come a Christian till you y>^/ just so and so? 

No, my friends. You can't go to heaven on feel- 
ing. Of course you can't go without feeling. The 
virtue, if you wish to call it such, is all right in its 
place — I wouldn't take away anything from feeling 
that belongs to it. But it is ,a ruinous error to 
imagine that you can go to heaven by feeling alone, 



EXCUSES 187 

and if you stay away from Christ it is probable the 
devil will make it his business to keep you from ever 
feeling like obeying the truth. 

I remember a few years ago, in one of my revivals, 
a young lady came to our service night after night, 
but persistently refused the invitation. I talked Vvith 
her several times, and some of the personal workers 
conversed with her. But she said, "I don't feel like I 
think I ought to feel when I accept the Lord.-^ I 
assured her that she was waiting for a feeling that 
she would never get, or which if she should get, it 
would do her no good, I pleaded with her to go 
ahead and do what was right, to believe and obey 
the Master, after which she would feel all right. She 
finally decided affirmatively and soon found rest and 
peace in the bosom of the Master. 

And so I say to you that if you wait till you feel 
like it, you may wait until your dying day. Many 
poor souls have waited fifty, sixty, and even seventy 
years without this feeling you hear so miuch about, 
and while they w^ere waiting there was a hell Wciiting 
too. Oh, what a mistake it is to wait for some 
peculiar feehng! Why,if you believe that God's \Vord 
is true; if you understand that without Jesus you are 
lost; and if you realize that He wants you to come, 
and to come whether you are worthy or not, then 

COME WHETHER YOU FEEL LIKE IT OR NOT. 

We often have to do things we don't like doing. 1 
remember that when I was a farmer-boy I often did 
not feel a bit like getting up at sunrise, but I had to 
do it, and I was much healthier and was able to do 
much more work than if I had lain in bed until eight 
or nine o'clock. And I wish to impress upon you 
the fact, my dear young friends, that you will be a 
good deal healthier spiritually, and will be able to do 
more good in your journey through this vale of tears, 



l88 EXCUSES 

if in the morning of your life you consecrate your all 
to Him. God has not promised you good feeling be- 
fore obedience to Jesus. Not until you have shown 
your faith by your works should you expect that good 
feeling which is so prominent a part in the experience 
of every blood-bought soul. Do not try to get the cart 
before the horse in this matter, but arise promptly 
and obey the commandments of God's Book. Then 
you will receive that joy from On High which sur- 
passes anything this world can offer. 

To a third I put the question, "Why don't you be- 
come a Christian.? Christ invites you with all the 
world to the marriage feast. Why don't you accept 
his invitation?" 

"Because there are so many backsliders,'^ comes the 
hackneyed reply. "I would become a Christian, but 
I am afraid I could not hold out." 

If you honestly feel like that there is all the more 
urgency that you should come at once. Your excuse 
is a poor one, but your heart is pliable and we want 
young men just like you in the Church to-day. That 
there are inconsistent Christians I admit. It has been 
so all along. Christ had twelve apostles and one of 
them was a scoundrel, a thief, a murderer. And in the 
ancient church of Corinth there was great wicked- 
ness. At Ephesus there was once a church of five 
thousand members, but nearly all turned away; yet 
some died and went to glory. "Many are called, but 
few are chosen." "Strait is the gate, and narrow is 
the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be 
that find it." 

It is very unmanly for you to stay away from 
Christ because you are afraid of backsliding. Your 
excuse is practically a confession that you have the 
knowledge and ability to become a Christian. If you 
fail to use that ability you will be held responsible at 



EXCUSES 189 

the Judgment, for our ability is the measure of our 
responsibility. So don't stay away. If you are will- 
ing to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal 
Saviour, and to cling to His strong arm all along life's 
pathway, there is no danger of backsliding. 

Church members are often to blame for the prev- 
alence of this excuse. Some one in the congrega- 
tion says, "There is old Tom Smith, for instance; 
he recently united with us,but I don't believe he will 
ever hold out, for he is a pretty hard old case.'' Did 
you ever see a father take his little babe from the crib 
and, standing it on the floor, remark, "I don't believe 
this child will ever walk; just see how it falls down! 
No, it will certainly never walk, for it's six months old 
and can't travel yet. No use trying, wife; just get 
back in your crib and stay there, little youngster, for 
you'll never succeed in getting about alone." 

Did you ever hear a father talk that way? No, of 
course not. But he gets down on the floor and holds 
out his hands to the little one, and as it tries to come 
to him and totters and falls, he lifts it up and comes 
a little nearer. 

"Now come to papa. Ah, that's a brave little 
man!" 

He knows that the child will learn to walk if it is 
properly encouraged. Why can't elders and deacons 
have just as much confidence in the babes in Christ 
which take up their abode in our churches? Why 
can't we encourage them, and if they fall, not give 
them a kick, saying, "Just as I expected, I never 
thought you would amount to anything anyhow!" but 
help them up again with kind words and gentle 
counsel? 

You will not be a backslider if you do your duty, 
my friend. If you will accept Christ's guidance. He 
will lead you on safely. You can hold out if you try. 



190 EXCUSES 

There is no need of backsliding, for the Lord has said, 
"I will never leave thee nor forsake thee/^ Courage, 
then! Stand by your leader,the Great Captain of our 
Salvation. Trust Him, and He will lead you to 
victory! 

A fourth time I put the question, "Why don't you 
become a Christian?" And I hear the cruel reply, 
"Because there are so many hypocrites in the 
Church/' 

"How do you know there are hypocrites in the 
Church?" 

"Because I know a Christian when I see one." 

Thus many admit that they know what it is to be a 
true Christian, but they neglect becoming such them- 
selves. Jesus says, "He that knoweth his Master's 
will and doeth it not shall be beaten with many 
stripes." 

Hypocrites in the church ! Possibly there are, but 
there will be no hypocrites in heaven! They will all 
be in the other place, and that is where you will be 
if you put off becoming a Christian, and all your life 
long trample under foot God's precepts. You ought 
to enter the service of Jehovah to-day. You ought to 
come and receive the blessing He has in store for 
you. 

I don't like this habit some people have of harping 
about hypocrites. It is very small business, and the 
smaller and harder the heart the more successfully it 
is carried on. If we knew all the circumstances sur- 
rounding the lives we criticise it might be very differ- 
ent. Perhaps you would not find so much fault if 
you knew all the besetting sins and heart-rending trials 
attending the life of this man, or that man of God. I 
honestly believe there are many good people regarded 
as hypocrites who will be in heaven a million years 
before their persecutors. God alone knows the ob- 



EXCUSES 191 

stacles your brother has to overcome, and I think it 
is not very becoming of you to cry out, "Hypocrite, 
hypocrite!" He is probably doing the very best he 
can, and that is certainly very much better than you 
are doing. It is unadulterated meanness for a man 
who knows his duty and is not doing it to criticise 
church members. If there is any class I delight in se- 
verely lashing it is these self-satisfied, self-righteous 
men who go up and down the earth snarling, "Hypo- 
crite, hypocrite!" at some poor, stumbling church 
member. I don't hate them, for I don't even hate 
my enemies; but I do hate their ways with a right- 
eous indignation. How puerile it is for any man who 
knows what is right and yet don't do it to be all the 
time criticising and finding fault with others who are 
doing the best they can! Why, you ought to step out 
and set us an example of truth and sobriety. I think 
the devil must laugh in his sleeve when he gets his 
grip on one of these self-righteous men. 

Speaking of fault-finding when the circumstances 
are unknown, I am reminded of a little story I once 
heard Prof. Dungan relate: A gentleman and his 
little daughter were speeding along through Iowa 
over the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. The 
little girl was crying. The father tried every way 
he could think of to pacify her. But neither beauti- 
ful picture books nor delicious sweet-meats sufficed to 
accomplish his purpose. The child cried and cried 
until the passengers became very nervous and began 
to make remarks. Some said that if the child were 
theirs they would give it a severe chastising, Vv'hile 
others expressed a wish that the father and his squall- 
ing daughter would get off the train. After awhile 
they pulled up to a prominent station and the train 
stopped for a few minutes. Having witnessed the 
discomfiture of his fellow travelers, the gentleman 



192 EXCUSES 

arose in his seat and said, "Friends, I know my little 
girl annoys you with her crying, which I have endeav- 
ored in vain to quiet. But I beg of you not to find 
fault. A week ago to-day we passed along this road 
and the little girl's mother was with us, and she was 
happy. There were no tears on her bright little face 
then, but songs and laughter. But to-day the dear 
wife and mother is in a casket in the baggage car — 
dead— and the poor child is crying for her mamma.'* 
The passengers with one accord slunk down in their 
seats, and not one of them found any more fault after 
they learned the circumstances. 

Always find out the circumstances surrounding a 
case before you criticise. Here is a poor weak brother 
who makes many crooked paths perhaps. But don't 
be too hard upon him, for if you could realize what 
terrible temptations he has to war against you 
would be grateful to God on his behalf ^that he has 
the courage and strength to do as well as he does. 
If you know what is right and fail to do it, you will 
receive the greater condemnation. 

In the fifth place let me ask this young man, twen- 
ty-five years old, "Why don't you accept this invita- 
tion to the marriage feast of the Lamb?'' 

"Well," comes the reply, "I am not settled in 
life yet. As soon as I get more permanently situated, 
I intend to connect myself with the Church." 

Settled in life! Is that what you are waiting for? 
If it is, you will probably wait forever, for I would 
like to know who in all this broad land is settled in 
life. Sometimes we think we are settled, but we are 
not. To-morrow we tear up and move. Once again 
in the new home we say, "Now we are settled. Here 
we will rear and educate the children." But possibly 
one of the children dies; or the health of the mother 
is not good, and a change of climate is necessary, and 



, EXCUSES 193 

once more we have to move. And so it goes all 
through this earth-life. We are never settled here. 
Paul truly remarks that "here we have no continuing 
city, but we seek one to come," — "a city not made 
with hands, eternal in the heavens." The only place 
we will every be truly settled is at God's right hand. 
We are all living in the future, — living in the work 
we are going to do, in the pleasures we are going to 
enjoy, and in the homes we are expecting to build. 
There is no reason why you should wait to be settled 
before becoming a Christian. This is a miserably 
poor excuse. Ah! the best way to get settled is to 
give your heart to Jesus, for no matter who you are 
nor what are the circumstances surrounding your life 
you will find in Him peace of soul and joy of heart. 
So don't wait, but come promptly and commit your all 
to Jesus! In his service there is fullness of joy, and 
sweetness of rest which the world cannot give. 

"And why don't you com.e to Christ.?" I say to a 
sixth young man. 

"I don't knov/ which church to join, sir. They all 
claim to be right, and yet all are different." I have 
been thinking about this matter till I am sorely per- 
plexed. What shall I do?" 

This is really perplexing to many, and if there is a 
reasonable excuse in the whole lot this is the one. I 
tell you, brethren, I cannot but sympathize with a 
young man who makes this excuse from the heart. 

Here is a little town of three or four thousand in- 
habitants, for instance, and it has ten churches. A 
stranger stopping at the hotel says to the landlord on 
Sunday morning, "What church shall I attend to- 
day.? I want to go where they have a first-class min- 
ister and fine music." 

"You can't miss it, sir; go where you will in our 
■town and you will find both requirements met," re- 



194 EXCUSES 

plies the landlord, who is not very particular himself, 
and who wants to be popular with everybody. 

The stranger saunters forth. He hears a bell ring- 
ing and it seems to say, "Come to church, come to 
church, come to church!" "All right," he mentally 
replies, "I guess I will go over there." He goes, and 
finds a beautiful church indeed, with cushioned pew'S, 
frescoed ceiling and painted windows with names and 
mottoes, The preacher comes out in a long white 
robe, which looks very much like a night-gown (but 
itisn'4:!) The choir follows in elegant order and 
artistically mouths a beautiful anthem. After a long 
introductory program the clergyman proceeds with a 
neat \\\.\\% preachine7it. During the sermon the mem- 
bers of the choir write notes to each other and chevs^ 
gum. If the preacher happens to make a mistake 
in pronunciation or grammar they laugh, for they do 
not belong to the church, and as they are paid just 
to sing, vv^hy should they be particularly decorous after 
their part of the worship (?) is over? 

From the minister's sermon the stranger takes a 
few excerpts. Among other things he says, "Be- 
loved, it does not make any difference what church 
you belong to, just so you are honest." And again, "If 
you wish to enjoy a pleasant little parlor dance, or a 
quiet game of cards at the home of a friend, you may 
do so without religious scruples." The whole sermon 
being along this line, evidently designed to catch the 
membership of a select crowd of the religiously in- 
clined, our stranger leaves without finding himself 
much nearer the Kingdom. 

The next Sunday he hears another bell ringing. 
"Come to church! come to church! come to church!" 
it seems to say, the peals following each other in 
rapid succession. "That sounds like business," says 
the seeker after light; "I believe Til go over there 
to-day." 



EXCUSES igc 



So with hat and cane he saunters forth again If 
there is anything a young man likes it is business, go- 
ahead-ativeness, push, and bounding energy I 
wish our churches everywhere had more and more of 
these elements entering into their make-up. It will 
never do for a church to sleep. It will never do for a 
preacher to give the people vague, not to say vain 
philosophies as a regular diet. The days of pagan- 
ism are well-nigh past. If we want to reach the 
young men we must give them something tangible 
and practical. 

Stranger enters the church. It is a little late but 
he is courteously shown a good seat. He sees a great 
crowd of people, and they are all singing some of the 
old Gospel Hymns. Presently the preacher takes 
his place at the stand. After a few "Praise the 
Lords!" and "Hallelujahs!" he announces as his text 
the words of the apostle, "Believe on the Lord [esus 
Christ and thou shalt be saved." But instead of 
quoting from God's Word to prove that belief alone 
IS the only requirement unto pardon, he reads from 
a little black volume, Article IX., Page 20, the theory 
of his church, "That we are justified by faith only is 
a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort " 
(M. E. Discipline ) This sounds very well but 
Stranger, having been a faithful Sunday School 
scholar throughout his childhood years, recalls that 
the Apostle James says, "Faith without works is 
dead, being alone. " 

I sometimes wonder how these good people get ud 
so much steam. The Methodist church is one of the 
hardest working religious bodies in the world and 
yet they minimize the value of work in the soul's 
salvation. But this is no more inconsistent than 
their assertion. in Article II. of their creed, that Tesus 
died to reconcile the Father to us, when Paul puts it 



T96 EXCUSES 

just the other way. Then again Methodists have been 
the champions of the mourner's bench system uf 
"getting religion,'' and of the six months' probation 
fallacy. So notwithstanding their earnestness, 
Stranger, being a thinking man, says, "I can hardly 
afford to take membership here, for they would com- 
pel me to come in on six months' suspicion, and be- 
fore my time was up I might backslide and so lose the 
glorious privilege of becoming a full-fledged Christian," 

He retires to his room and puts in what leisure 
time he can command searching the Scriptures. The 
next Sunday he hears another bell ringing. It rings 
out very clearly and pleasantly the invitation the 
polite church it represents seems to offer. It seems to 
say, "Come to church, come to church, come to church 
— to church!" He says to himself,"That is elegant, I 
will drop in and see what they teach." Upon enter- 
ing he realizes that he is in a beautiful building. In 
all its appointments there is an air of aristocracy. 
There is a wide vestibule. The floor slants forward, 
opera house style, and back of the pulpit is a great 
pipe organ. The preacher has spent four years at 
college, and three years at the seminary. He is a 
thoroughly polished pastor, — polished in dress, lan- 
guage,and manners. His theme is "Predestination." 
Taking the Presbyterian Confession of Faith as his 
text, he argues very nicely therefrom that God ordains 
that certain persons are to be saved, while certain 
others are to be lost. Waxing eloquent he says (his 
arms always rising and falling at the proper angle), 
"It may be that this little babe was born to be lost. 
No one can tell. Whom the Lord wants to curse he 
will curse, and whom He wants to bless He will bless. 
His decrees are ever arbitrary." 

"Well," soliloquizes Stranger, as he returns to his 
hotel, "what assurance can I have of redemption if 



EXCUSES 197 

their theory is correct. Perhaps I'm one of the *non- 
elect' and after I have swallowed all their theology I 
will find myself lost at last. No, no, Mr. Parson, I 
can't join your church. Your notions concerning 
election, foreordination and the decrees chill my 
soul.'' 

And thus Stranger goes on for weeks without sat- 
isfaction. Every church presents a different set of 
doctrines, some of them diametrically opposed to each 
other, and yet each and everyone claims to be right! 
He naturally concludes that if the Bible is the true 
basis from which to judge, these hundreds of churches 
with their conflicting dogmas must be wrong. 

"Well," says somebody, "why don't you join the 
church nearest right?'' 

And now let me tell you why, my friend. Because 
it would be inconsistent to join any church that 
teaches one thing as an essential doctrine not taught 
in the Bible. If you want to join a church, why not 
join the Church of Christ.? Don't be content with 
joining something nearest right; but join that which is 
right. If you will take the pains to investigate in the 
light of the New Testament Scriptures, you can easily 
find the Church our Lord set up. If you really desire 
to become a member of God's household, don't join 
any of human origin. Don't join any church with a 
human name, or a human creed. Take the Bible as 
your only guide in this matter, and you can make no 
mistake. 

Some one says, "I am going to move away out in 
another State where there is no church of my choice. 
Should I not cast in my lot with one of the sects un- 
til I can do better.?" 

To all such my reply has been. Don't do it. Even 

if you live five hundred miles from any Christian 

• Church, don't unite with a church with a human name, 



198 EXCUSES 

and thus become a partner in the perpetuation of di- 
visions, which Paul condemns, (i Cor. 1:10). I 
would live 500 years outside of any local church con- 
nection, except as a visitor and nominal helper, be- 
fore I would take membership v^ith any sect. I believe 
there are Christians in all the churches, but I would 
to God that they could be induced to leave off their 
human names, and take their human creeds and burn 
them, and thus remove one of the greatest of all 
hindrances to the world's conversion. There should 
be only one church, and that the Church of Christ, 
which is also called the Church of God, and in Reve- 
lation the Church of the First Born. I don't care 
which of these names you call it, for they are all used 
in the New Testament. I plead with you to join the 
church that is rights not the one that is "nearest" 
right. I don't like to hear our people say, "I think 
we are ^nearest' right." Why should we be timid or 
compromising.^ We ought to know that if the Bible 
is right, we are right, for the Bible is our only rule of 
faith and practice. If the Bible is wrong, then we 
are wrong. But that remains to be proven. The 
teaching of the Bible is clear and plain. Take it as 
the man of your counsel, dear Stranger, and do what 
it tells you to do in God's own appointed way. Don't 
make the weak and vain excuse any longer that you 
"don't know what church to join." Join the Church 
of Christ,-— the church pictured so beautifully in the 
pages of the New Testament,— the church Vv^hich was 
opened on Pentecost — the church which was dedi- 
cated by the life-blood of our own dear Lord! 

I say to a seventh young man, "Why don't you 
accept the invitation God gives you to the marriage 
feast of the Lamb?" 

"I am waiting for a call." 

Waiting for a call.!' Waiting for a call.'' Waiting 



EXCUSES 199 

for God to come and knock you down, figuratively 
speaking, and compel you by sheer force to become 
a Christian? Do you think the Creator is going to 
stop the movement of the planets to convert you? 
Oh, no. Don't wait for some mysterious, miraculous, 
special call. You are not important enough for that. 
When David could say, "What is m.an that Thou art 
mindful of him, or the son of man that Thou visitest 
him?'^ I feel sure that Jehovah will not stop all the 
machinery of the universe and suspend every law of 
heaven and earth just to convert you. And yet some 
people act as if they expected something of that 
nature must occur before they could really come to 
Christ. 

Waiting for a call ! ' Why God has called you 
eighteen hundred years ago. He has been calling 
you all through the ages. The history of Christianity 
is a loud call. The divinity of Jesus Christ is a loud 
call. The writhing of your conscience as you think 
of your many sins is a loud call. "Come,'' says the 
Son of Man, "for all things are now ready." The 
marriage feast is being spread. Millions upon millions 
of redeemed children of men are being gathered in 
and yet there is room for a mighty host yet to 
come. 

Your excuse is that you are waiting for a call. 
Well, listen: Christ says, "Come unto me all ye that 
labor and are heavy laden.'' And in the last chapter 
of the Bible we learn that "the spirit and the bride 
say, come. And let him that heareth say come. And 
let him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will, 
let him take the water of life freely." (Rev. 
22:17.) 

You have been called many times. This may be 

•your last chance. God will not always wait. Says 

the Psalmist, "He will not always chide, neither will 



200 EXCUSES 

he keep his anger forever." So don't wait any longer, 
dear unsaved friend, but answer heaven's many calls 
to you now! 

To an eighth person, a lady, I say,"Why don't you 
become a Christian? The King of Glory invites you. 
Why not?'' 

"Well, "she replies,"! am waiting for my husband." 

Let me remind you, my sister, that the Word of 
God teaches us to go ahead and do our duty no mat- 
ter what others do. We cannot go to heaven for 
each other. We must go individually if we go at all 
— every one for himself. The best way to win your 
husband is to come and do your duty. You can do 
ten times as much towards winning him to Christ 
from within the fold as you can from without. 

Another says,"I am waiting for one of my friends." 
I believe thousands of souls are lost in that way. It 
is a snare of the devil. I beg of you to avoid it. If 
you will come and do your duty you will have much 
greater influence with your friends, There is a great 
power in a life of prayer. But what influence have 
you now? Your friends may well say, "Physician, heal 
thyself." Oh, let no husband wait for his wife; let 
no wife wait for her husband ; let no friend wait for 
his friend, but let each accept the gladsome message 
of love without delay. Make no longer the vain ex- 
cuse, "waiting." 

In the ninth place I say to a father or mother, 
"Why don't you let your little son and daughter come 
to Christ?" 

"Oh, because we think they are too young." 

I suppose that excuse is made thousands of times 
to evangelists. Only last winter,in one of my meet- 
ings in a college town, a young lady, fifteen years old, 
made the good confession, and her many friends were 
so happy, for she was a noble and talented girl. But 



EXCUSES 20I 

her father objected to her baptism, saying that she 
was "too young. '^ Two years before, an older sister 
had desired to become a Christian and the father 
had said, "Too young/* Now that daughter is a 
young lady, and she is an infidel. 

Oh, parents, if your children are eight, nine, ten 
or twelve years old, and want to come to Christ, I 
plead with you not to put a straw in their way. A 
child is not too young to obey the blessed gospel if 
its conscience says, ''I ought to be a Christian!" If 
its little heart yearns to accept Christ, we should 
never be found standing in the way. 

"But,'' says one, "I am afraid it will not under- 
stand." 

Pray tell me, who in this world does fully under- 
stand what it means to accept the Lord? There has 
never yet been a soul converted to Christ who under- 
stood all about it. Take those old Christians who 
have been reading the Bible forty, fifty, and some 
sixty years — poring over the precious precepts and 
promises of God again and again — ask them if they 
fully understand. Paul, you remember, says, "Great 
is the mystery of Godliness." But if a little boy or 
girl understands that he or she needs a Saviour; and 
without Christ they cannot go to heaven; that is 
enough, let them come. 

Sometimes when only a few children are converted 
during a series of special meetings, the effort is con- 
sidered almost a failure. But this is a great error. 
The vast majority of those who come to Christ come 
in the morning of life. B. Fay Mills, the v/ell-known 
evangelist, estimates that only one-per cent of all our 
church people come to Christ after forty. Those who 
come young make the best Christians. Isaac Errett, 
.one of the greatest men in the current religious ref- 
ormation, joined the church when he v. as nine years 



202 EXCUSES 



old. Robert Moffatt, at the age of twelve, was the 
only convert during a revival in an old Scotland 
church. The dominie was sorely disappointed. In 
announcing the final results of the effort, he said, 
"Only one little lad/' Bat what did that little lad be- 
come? Why, as everybody knows, the greatest mis- 
sionary ever sent into x'\frica. It vvas Garfield, I be- 
lieve, v/ho said that when he met an urchin on the 
street he felt like lifting his hat, for there might be 
wonderful possibilities buttoned up under that ragged 
jacket. Let us do all we can to Vv^in the boys and 
girls to Christ, for the children of to-day must be the 
pillars of church and state to-morrow. 

I remember while preaching at Manhattan, Kansas, 
that a very little girl came forward one night in re- 
sponse to the Gospel Invitation. She was just a mite 
of a child, ten years old, I had not been in the min- 
istry long and did not v/ant to make a mistake. Be- 
ing afraid that the little thing was too young and ill- 
informed as to the significance of the step she was 
taking, I announced that the elders of the Church 
would visit her before we proceeded to induct her 
into the Kingdom, They would question her, and if 
her answers were satisfactory, then we would baptize 
her. This may seem strange to our young people of 
to-day, but the older people will recall very forcibly 
the old prejudice common among our people against 
receiving little folks into church fellowship. Well, 
the next day one of the most conservative elders and 
myself went to the house of the little girl to talk with 
her. We found her surrounded very unfavorably. 
The father was a common laborer and a rough, wicked 
man. The mother was a self-acknowledged back- 
slider. But we found the little girl to be an exception- 
ally bright child. She was very much in earnest about 
becoming a Christian, and her little heart seemed 



EXCUSES 203 

running over with love for the blessed Master who 
had said, "Suffer the little children to come unto me 
and forbid them not." Her answers to the questions 
propounded were so satisfactory that we decided to 
receive her without delay. So that same evening at 
the close of preaching services I baptized her. I 
shall never forget how Brother House, a faithful 
deacon, picked her up in his strong hands and gently 
lowered her to me as I stood waiting in the baptistry. 
She was dressed in spotless white, and I thought I 
had never seen any one look so pure, so angelic. 
Well, Dolly, that was her name, came along to church 
as regularly as she cculd, till by and by her father 
moved with his family to a neighboring town, and I 
saw no more of miy little convert. One day, a few 
montho later, a good sister startled me by saying, 
"Brother Hall, did you know Dolly Hull was dead.^" 
^^What,'^ said I, "Dolly Hull dead?'^ 
"Yes, she passed away last week — ^typhoid fever.'^ 
I want to tell you that I devoutly thanked God 
from the bottom of my poor heart that I had not put 
a strav/ between that child and^ Christ. And we 
should never do so. If you keep them from coming 
nov,^ while their hearts are ycung and pliable, they 
may never come. So let us adopt the beautiful senti- 
m.ent expressed in one of Professor ExcelTs hymns: — 

"Open the door for the children, tenderly gather them in, 
In from the highways and hedges, in from the places of sin; 
Some are so young and so helpless, some are so hungry and cold, 
Open the door for the children, gather them into the fold." 

Oh, do not say again that your child is too young. 
If he is ten or twelve years old, and has had average 
training, he ought not to be kept out of the Church 
forty-eight hours. Is he too young to die? No, Then 
do not harbor longer the vain excuse that he is too 
young to live for Christ. 



204 EXCUSES 

To a tenth person I say, "Why don't you come to 
Christ? Why will not you accept the invitation to 
the marriage feast of the Lamb?" 

And here comes the pitiable excuse, "I will some- 
time, I want to be a Christian, and I certainly will 
before I die." 

But oh! how dare you postpone your coming? Life 
is so uncertain and death so sure! God has never 
made any promise to those who intend coming "some- 
time," It is always nozv! "Now is the accepted 
time" — "to day is the day of salvation." "Come, for 
all things are now ready." "The King's business re- 
quires haste." These are familiar expressions to the 
student of God's Word. The promises are all for 
those who accept to-day. In no place is there any 
promise for those who wait till to-mor^'ow. 

Did you ever think it is presumptuous in you to 
say, "Sometime I will become a Christian.?" Some- 
time may mean forever. Time is not your own, but 
God's. And time once gone is gone forever! It can 
never be returned. Oh, you had better accept Christ 
now, TO-NIGHT, for it may be the last opportunity of 
your life. God help you ! 

"Lost! Yesterday, 
Somewhere between sunrise and sunset, 

Two golden hours! 

No reward offered, 
For they are gone forever!" 

If you let the present opportunity to come to Christ 
go by, it will be of no use to offer a reward for its 
return some sad day when you grow old in sin, for 
God himself could not consistently bring it back. He 
may give you another opportunity, and He may not, 
but it is certain that this one will never return. When 
you say Sometime, do you realize what it means? 
Why, it is equivalent to saying, "I will not accept 



EXCUSES 205 

the invitation; I will not go into the banquet hall; 
I am not ready to put on the wedding garment; I 
want to wear the old filthy rags of self-righteousness 
a little while yet; I want to revel in the fields of 
wickedness, and bow at the shrine of appetite; then, 
after awhile, I will endeavor to clean up and go to the 
wedding feast of the Lamb," Pitiable excuse indeed! 
Why make it longer? Why not come to-night and 
throw off the old rags of disobedience, be washed in 
the blood of the Lamb, and put on the wedding gar- 
ment of holiness to the Lord? Then you will find 
grace to help in every time of need. 

No excuse for neglecting Jesus will be accepted. I 
have given you only ten out out of hundreds that are 
offered by those who know their duty but fail to do 
it. I might go on until the last excuse was given, 
but in the light of God's Word could not find one 
that is consistent. God*s invitation is reasonable. His 
urgent request to be present at the marriage of his 
Holy Son is consistent in every way. He asks you 
to do nothing that will not elevate you in all that is 
good and beautiful and true. So I plead with you 
to come to-night! Accept Christ now. The Church 
is ready; the angels are ready; the Spirit is ready, 
and Jesus says, "Come, for all things are now ready!" 
Will you come.'^ 



HEAVEN. 

"There is a world above, 
Where parting is unknown; 
A whole eternity of love 

Formed for the good alone. 
And faith beholds the dying here 
Translated to that happier sphere. 

Montgomery. (Friends.) 

"There is a land where beauty cannot fade, 
Nor sorrow dim the eye; 
Where true love shall not droop nor be dismayed, 
And none shall ever die." 

Mary Howiti. (Song of Margaret. ) 

I am glad to say to-night that nearly all the people 
in this world believe every word I have just quoted 
from these distinguished authors. I will not say that 
everybody believes in heaven, but that fully ninety- 
nine persons out of every hundred believe in a better 
life beyond. It is a subject in which everybody is in- 
terested — old and young, black and white, red and 
yellow — all classes and all conditions are interested 
in the discussion of the questions we have for con- 
sideration to-night: 

"Heaven — Where is it.? What is W, Who may 
go there.? and, Shall we know each other there.?" 

Now I am frank enough to say that this subject is 
largely speculative in many of its phases. There is 
not a shadow of doubt in the mind of any person 
present,! presume, but that there is a heaven, for the 
Bible teaches it emphatically. But there are some 
things concerning the matter we will never fully 

206 



HEAVEN 207 

understand this side of the dividing line between life 
and immortality. The human mind is only finite. 
We are not strong enough yet to grasp all of this 
subject. But even if our minds and hearts were 
strong enough to endure all the wonderful warmth 
and light emanating from this matchless them.e, God 
thought it best to wait awhile, and not to reveal all. 
He has revealed enough to us» however, thanks to 
His Holy name, to give us most earnest longings for 
that better world — tremulous yearnings for that 
glorious place beyond. 

Now let us look at God's Word and see what He 
has revealed on this subject. There is a Heaven. 
God's Book teaches us so from beginning to end. 
He has also taught us through natural instinct that 
there is a better place beyond; deep down in cur 
souls he has implanted longings that cannot be ex- 
pressed for a better, nobler, happier life; longings 
for a place of exquisite and unending delight. This 
world is full of sin and sorrow. It is often over- 
whelmed with grief. It is a world of sickness, death 
and dying, disappointment and pain. It is a world 
of misunderstandings and remorse, a world that no 
one cares to live in forever. We are all looking for- 
ward. No one really lives in the present. We live 
in the future. In one sense we are not inhabitants 
living here, but we are living where we are going to 
live—living in the house we are going to live in next 
year, in the trip we are going to take, and in the 
work we are going to do. We are talking about 
these things all the time. They are our meat and 
drink and sleep. Truly, we live in the future. 

Well, this is comforting if not always profitable. 
The world could not long stand without hope. And 
it is good that those Vv-ho love the Lord should be ever 
looking beyond where there will be no sin, sickness 



2o8 HEAVEN 

and sorrow. The Indian longs for happier Hunting 
Grounds. The heathen woman longs for the time 
when she will be a man. Some long for one thing; 
some for another; but all with one accord, saint 
and sinner, Christian and heathen, are looking to- 
wards the future, believing that it has in store richer 
blessings than the present. 

It is taught in our books. It is taught in our nur- 
series. Our sages, priests and ecclesiastical potentates 
everywhere teach it. Who would dare deny it .'^ Why, 
even the skeptic believes in a future. A certain old 
farmer in the country where I was brought up used to 
say that he "didn't care what they did with him when 
he died; they might take his body and throw it in 
the hog pen." It was his way of expressing his con- 
trariness to prevailing sentiment. But I am glad 
to say that this old, gray-haired man finally got into 
a habit he had never had before; he got to attend- 
ing church regularly and giving attention to the 
things of the Kingdom. 

The nearer we come to the grave the more we 
think of heaven. Sometimes standing over the grave 
where a loved one lies there seems to be but a thin 
veil between us and the future. Standing over the 
corpse of his brother, the scoffer, Mr. Ingersoll, 
was moved to say: "Hope sees a star and faith hears 
the rustle of an angel's wing." Ah, in such moments 
we all see a star and all hear the rustle of heavenly 
wings. There is not a mother here who has buried a 
child but expects to meet her darling again. There 
is not a husband here who has buried his life's com- 
panion but is looking to see her Over Yonder. There 
is not a strong man or woman here who does not 
expect in some better day and place to see that gray 
haired father and mother, whom you laid beneath 
the sod some five, some ten, some twenty years ago. 



HEAVEN 209 

Oh, yes, I expect to see mother again; I make no 
other calculations. God is on the affirmative side of 
this question, and He has made every impulse of the 
soul throb with the assurance of a happy meeting, and 
all human instinct is on the side of there being a 
better place beyond. 

If this is so, where is that place? Now do you 
think I am going to tell you exactly where it is 
located, whether on Neptune, Venus, or Mars, or on 
one of the four rings of Saturn? If you think I am 
going to tell you just where it is — that is at just what 
point in the universe — you are mistaken, for I am 
noc here to answer so definitely. The facts of the 
case are that God has not revealed to me or any 
other living man the exact location of heaven, and I 
don't dare speak positively here, for I don't know. 

Some one says, "Well, I believe this earth will be 
the future dwellingplace of the righteous." Do you? 
Then I have no objections. Personally I don't 
believe it. But if at last I shall find myself mistaken, 
and that the Creator has made it the chosen place, 
why, all right, I wcfn't make any fuss about it. If 
the Lord says, "I have decided to purify and re- 
model this old world, and let you and your loved ones 
live here forever," I will reply, "Very well. Lord, 
just as you say about it; it suits me very well." But 
if the Lord shall say, "Look here: I have fitted up 
a better place away yonder in the skies; you go up 
there and dwell," I will reply, "All right, Lord, 
I will not quarrel about where you put me. I know 
it will be a good place, Lord; so wherever you put 
me I will be satisfied." 

The Bible says that Heaven will be "up," and that 
is all we can know about it here. Heaven is never 
spoken of in the Bible as down^ but always as ^^uf\ 
Hence v;hen heaven is spoken of the gesture is 



2IO HEAVEN 

always up. Did you ever hear of anybody's gestur- 
ing downward when speaking of heaven, or upwards 
when speaking of hell? No. Instinctively we all 
point up when speaking of heaven.. Ask any little 
child where heaven is, and note how quickly and 
naturally it turns its eyes toward the deep blue sky. 

But let us glance at a few Scriptures. Open first 
at the Book of Job, 3:4. (Some scholars believe 
it was v/ritten before Genesis.) "Let not God regard 
it from above; neither let the light shine upon it.'* 

Turn again to the Book of Deuteronomy, 30:12. 
"Who shall go up for us to heaven?" And again in 
the fourth chapter, the sacred writer declares that 
"the Lord, he is God in heaven above^ 

Go on through the Psalms and Proverbs, and the 
books of the prophets, and you will find that the 
words "up'' and "above'' are uniformly used when 
reference is made to the location of Heaven. 

Go over to the New Testament and it is always 
the same. Take, for instance, the first chapter of Acts, 
gfch verse: "And when he had spoken these things, 
while they beheld, he was tak^i itp\ and a cloud 
received him out of their sight." Notice that he was 
not taken down, nor out, but up. Read also the 
tenth and eleventh verses: "And while they looked 
steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, 
two men stood by them in white apparel; which 
also said. Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing 
up into heaven} This same Jesus, which is taken up 
from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner 
as ye have seen him go into heaven." The Apostles 
were not told to look down into heaven, nor behind 
into heaven, but up. 

And again in 2 Cor. 12:4, Paul speaks of being 
"caught up into Paradise." So all through the Bible, 
wherever the location of God's Throne is spoken of, 



HEAVEN 211 

wherever heaven, or the final home of the faithful 
is spoken of, it is always up, never down. But at no 
place does it tell us how far up, nor give us the 
boundary lines. 

How in accord is all this with human nature! It 
is natural for man to look up to som.ething higher 
and better. When a man is down in the gutter and 
determines to do better, we speak of him as "com- 
ing up.'* The man who has been unfortunate, and 
^sick and poor, but after awhile health returns, and he 
begins to have a good bank account, we speak of 
him as "getting up again.'' xA.ll the world is looking 
up expectantly to a purer, happier and safer life. 
When speaking of this mortal life we often say,"Down 
here in this world of wickedness and sin." But 
when speaking of immortality we use such expressions 
as "going up to the throne of God," "up to the home 
of the Eternal," "up to the portals of Glory," etc. 
Animals look down for all they want, but the soul of 
man looks up. 

I could give you many more Scriptural references, 
but I think those already presented sufficient. I 
sometimes like to discuss somie phases of this sub- 
ject from other standpoints anyway. 

Some one inquires, "Brother Hall, do you believe 
the soul sleeps after death until the Day of Judg- 
ment.^" Our Adventist brethren think that it will. 
They travel all over the country preaching and argu- 
ing to this effect. But I don't believe a single word 
of it. I can prove anything in the w'orld from the 
Bible, by wresting words from their natural mean- 
ing; but I don't believe that, by a legitimate use of 
the Scriptures, anything can be proven in favor of 
soul-sleeping. However, it is a question of little 
'importance. If the Lord wants my soul to sleep in 
the grave until the . Resurrection Morn, all right; 



212 HEAVEN 

the time will seem short, for with God a thousand 
years is as one day. My belief is that after we die 
the soul will go directly into the company of Jesus and 
the redeemed. Whether that will be in paradise or 
heaven proper, I don't know and don't care. All 
such questions are very speculative in their nature, 
it seems to me, and we should not be dogmatic upon 
them. Good men differ in their conclusions regard- 
ing the matter, and it makes no difference, for they 
are really and truly non-essentials for the present. 
There are no commands bearing upon these ques- 
tions, and it is the commands that are important. 
Unless they are obeyed it will make no difference 
where heaven is, for we couldn't enter anyhow. 

Brother F. G. Allen, of Kentucky, a brilliant and 
godly man, theorized that paradise meant heaven 
and that the soul goes directly there. There are 
some good scholars who believe this, and I simply 
give you their idea. But probably the vast majority 
think that paradise is an intermediate state where 
the soul will wait after death until the Judgment and 
then pass on to heaven proper. 

But let me give you Henry Ward Beecher's idea. 
Whether he was correct or not I cannot tell; it is 
simply a theory. No man can prove it, but it impresses 
me as being the finest theory I ever heard. The 
great Brooklyn preacher believed that when the souls 
of the righteous pass out of this world they are taken 
to an intermediate place. And then when the Last 
Great Day comes, the day of final jubilee, all that 
have lived, from Adam down to the last man, shall 
be gathered together from land and sea, and shall be 
caught up to meet God before the Judgment throne. 

Then those who have lived right, not only in this 
little world, but in all the worlds in the Universe of 
God, shall be assigned some great central place of 
eternal abode! 



HEAVEN 213 

Heaven be this poor little earth? This little planet, 
infinitesimally insignificant when compared with the 
wonderful w^orlds by w^hich we are surrounded? No. 
I don't accept that notion. We know that no mortal 
eye hath seen the grandeur, and no ear hath heard 
of the splendor of that wonderful Home. So it seems 
ridiculous to me to believe that this little world will 
be selected as the place where all the children of God 
will be gathered together from the four quarters of 
the universe to glorify Him forever. I do not believe 
that God has wasted all these mighty worlds we see 
floating in space around us, but I believe we have 
brothers and sisters, millions, billions, yea, decil- 
lions of them, perhaps, residing on other planets. 
These, wath all the redeemed from this world, shall 
dwell together forever in that glorious land of eternal 
bliss, wherever it is. That is my idea of heaven; 
take it for what it is worth. 

WHAT KIND OF A PLACE IS HEAVEN ? 

People thought last week when we were opening 
up this old amusement hall, and fixing it up for a 
Tabernacle, that it was a pretty hard sort of a place 
— a ridiculous place to attempt a religious work. At 
first I suppose some passed by in disdain. But after 
awhile they got courage to look in, and seeing a 
choir, and a preacher, and a pulpit and a Bible, and 
hearing gospel songs, and seeing hundreds of good 
people here, they decided that it wasn't such a bad 
place after all, and so here we are to-night doing a 
great work, with God's blessing. The people have 
found out that the Tabernacle is a good place after 
all. 

Well, what kind of a place is Heaven? Is it a 
good place, a bad place, or an indifferent sort of a 



214 HEAVEN 

place? That is what we want to know. And I am 
glad that Revelation is very clear on this point. We 
cannot say definitely where heaven is, but we can 
say positively that it is a good place. Everywhere we 
are taught to believe that it is a place of rest, a place 
of peace, a place of exquisite joy! There will be no 
sorrow there, nor pain of any kind, but only life and 
light and love forever and forever! That's the kind 
of a place it is. 

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO THERE .^ 

I can't tell you. When a child I got the idea frprn 
that old song our ancestors used to sing that when 
we reached heaven we would stand around in long 
robes^ — something like night-gowns— with palms in 
our hands, and sing and fan forever and ever! 

*'I want to be an angel, 
And with the angels stand, 
A crown upon my forehead, 
A palm within my hand." 

But I never sing that song, for I don't want to be 
an angel; I want to be something better — a "king 
and priest unto God.'' That is what the apostle 
says we may become, and so we should not want to 
be angels at all. 

I don't like these old ideas of Heaven. It is all 
wrong to imagine that we are to sit there with folded 
hands forever and ever, doing nothing except per- 
haps to take an occasional walk about the golden 
streets. I tell you I work hard here, but I expect 
to work infinitely harder hereafter. But, say! I 
get tired here, but I won't get tired up there; that's 
the difference. My work here is to preach and to 
pray; but I will do neither up there. No, there will 
not be a single sermon or prayer in heaven; it will 



HEAVEN 



215 



all be praise up there! We will probably continue 
none of our present occupations in heaven; but the 
Lord will have something else for us to do. Oh, 
yes! We will doubtless continue singing. Professor 
Powell says it is the only art practiced in this life, 
however, which we will use in the life to come. But 
there will be one great difference in our music here 
and there. In heaven there will be no discords, naught 
but perfect harmony. I believe we will continue 
to sing. Waller somewhere says: 

* 'For all we know 
Of what the blessed do above, 
Is, that they sing and that they love." 

The Lord is not a lazy master, and I do not believe 
he is going to keep us up there for millions and 
millions of years with nothing to do. I believe Heaven 
will be a place of tremendous activity; that every 
single inhabitant will have something to do, and 
something too, that will praise and magnify the name 
of the Infinite One. There will be no "out-of-works" 
up there. Heaven will be a place of unending em- 
ployment, and yet, paradoxical as this may seem, a 
place of perpetual rest. Mr. Gladstone thinks that 
a change of occupation insures the sweetest rest. 
But be this as it may, be assured, dear friend, that 
Heaven will be a place of the largest bliss, and that 
it v^ill be everlasting. 

There won't be any saloon keepers or any gamblers 
there; no oppressors of the poor; no thieves; no 
liars; no blasphemers; no destroyers of virtue. There 
will be no "prohibition won' t-prohibit men'^up there. 
No, no. The Lord won't have any work for them in 
Heaven, nor for any of the class from whom one joint 
has been left out of the backbone. Heaven will be 
made up of men w^ho have been redeemed from all 
these things; men who have spent life in His service. 



2l6 HEAVEN 

Heaven will be made up of workers, for God never 
uses lazy people. He uses the" weak and foolish things 
of this world to confound the wise and mighty," but 
He does not use the lazy. He chooses to manifest 
His strength through weakness often, but never 
through laziness. Don't get the idea that you will 
go to heaven if you do nothing here. 

But I hear some one saying, "Mr. Hall, we don't 
comprehend your talk. You just assured us that in 
Heaven we will have perfect rest, and yet you tell 
us there will be so much work to do. How is it?'^ 

What is rest? Some Christians don't pray once a 
month, they don't go to prayer meeting three times 
a year, they don't attend the revival meetings, and, 
in short, they don't do enough of anything to make 
them tired; and yet they talk about rest. Why, poor 
soul, you can't rest unless you are tired. I wish 
some of you would work hard enough once to get 
real good and tired in the Lord's work. It would be 
a great thing for the Church and for yourselves too. 
The man who plows all day, until every bone in his 
body aches, can sit down in a stiff chair, or recline 
upon a hard couch and enjoy sweet rest. The man 
who works at the same occupation eight or ten or 
twelve hours a day is tired and needs a change of 
occupation. When I am real tired from preaching 
it rests me to get out of the pulpit and go home and 
have a romp with the children. A change from 
mental to physical occupation is rest to a man engaged 
with his books, and a change from physical to mental 
occupation is rest to the man engaged in manual 
labor. In Heaven there will be rest enough, for 
there will no doubt be wondrous variety. We will 
praise God in hallelujah songs, and we will work on 
forever without knowing what it is to be tired. Well 
may we say with Cowper: 



HEAVEN 217 

"O scenes surpassing fable, and yet true — 
. Scenes of accomplished bliss; which who can see, 
Though but in distant prospect, and not feel 
His soul refreshed with foretaste of that joy?" 

WHO WILL GO TO HEAVEN ? 

This is certainly a point in which we are all in- 
tensely interested, and I dare not answer it in my 
own words alone. So we will turn to the 21st Chap- 
ter of Revelation. In the sixth and seventh verses we 
find this language: — 

"And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha 
and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give 
unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water 
of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all 
things and I will be his God and he shall be my son.'' 
Overcometh what? The evil thoughts and depraved 
appetites and evil passions of the body; that is what. 

He that overcometh the sins of the flesh, the 
wickedness of the world, and the temptations of the 
evil one, shall inherit all things. But how about those 
who don't overcome? Read the eighth verse: — "But 
the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and 
murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idol- 
ators, and all liars, shal have their part in the lake 
which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the 
second death.'' 

Right here comes the usual inquiry, "Do you 
believe in that lake of fire and brimstone?" No, 
I don't believe it will be a literal lake of fire 
and brimstone. You know the Book of Revelation 
is highly figurative from beginning to end. Its 
twenty-two chapters are a glorious series of some of 
the grandest figures in all literature. Hence I think 
the language referred to is figurative. But say; a 
figure is simply an attempt to describe the real, and 



2l8 HEAVEN 

if hell is figuratively a "lake of fire and brimstone," 
the reality must be even worse! But as to the actual 
location and state of hell, I trust it may never be 
our lot to know. It is sufficient for us to know that 
all who do not overcome their evil ways go to that 
place of "outer darkness," But to him that over- 
cometh is promised the everlasting life in Heaven. 

I believe we begin our heaven or our hell here; 
and there is really such a thing as a foretaste of 
heaven here, and there is probably also such a thing 
as a foretaste of hell here. It is related that there 
were once two boat loads of people going from 
Cleveland over to Buffalo, the first filled with religious 
people going over to a convention, the second filled 
with gamblers, jockeys, etc., going over to some kind 
of a tournament. A man came running down, jumped 
into one of the boats, took out his handkerchief and 
wiped his brow, and exclaimed, "Well, well, I was just 
within one of getting left." He took out his latest 
religious paper and commenced to read. By and 
by he noticed he was pretty well out from the city, 
and he folded his paper and began to look around 
to see if he could recognize any of his brethren. But 
to his amazement he saw several groups of men play- 
ing cards, and just then he heard two or three great 
big oaths. A moment more he saw them passing 
a bottle around. Hurrying to the captain he said: 

"In the name of reason, Captain, w^hat kind of a 
crowd is this?" 

"Oh," said the captain, "they are a lot of sports- 
men going over to Buffalo to the races." 

"Why, is not this the boat chartered by the Chris- 
tian people of Cleveland to carry delegates to the 
convention?" said the excited clergyman. 

"No," said the captain, "you are on the wrong 
boat." 



HEAVEN 219 

"Ah, I guess so.'^ 

Now that man did not pla^^ cards, he did not 
gamble, he did not drink, and the journey with the 
fellows who did was simply a hell to him. There 
was no sympathy there, nothing in common between 
him and those wicked men, and he was literally and 
sadly out of place in such a crowd. 

The same morning another man came running 
down, and jumped into the other boat just as it was 
about to leave the wharf. He sat down, puffing, 
blowing and swearing, took out his handkerchief and 
mopped off his red face, took out his daily paper and 
glanced over the news. By this time he had re- 
gained composure, and noticed that the ship was 
almost out of sight of the city. Drawing a flask from 
his pocket he took a drink, and then looked around 
to see if he could see any of his chums. To his sur- 
prise his first glance revealed a lady reading the Bible. 
He looked a little further and savv^ a group of gentle- 
men, and overheard them calling the names of John, 
Mark, Luke and Paul. He had heard these names 
in childhood, and soon made up his mind they were 
arguing Scripture. It seemed very strange to him. 
So he went to the captain and said: 

"Captain, for heaven's sake, what kind of a crowd 
have you got on board?'' 

"Oh, very good people, I reckon," said the captain. 

"Who on earch are they.'^" 

"Oh, a lot of church people going over to Buffalo 
to some sort of religious convention, I believe." 

"Oh," groaned the gambler, "then I am on the 
wrong boat." 

That trip was very unpleasant to him. Why.? 
Because he was out of his element. He had nothing 
in common with those Christian ladies and gentlemen 
at all, and they had nothing in common with him. It 



220 HEAVEN 

was agony to him to be with them, and he was 
greatly relieved when they pulled into Buffalo. 

Yes, we begin our heaven here, and we begin our 
hell here. Every man and vv'oman in the Tabernacle 
to-night is on his or her way to heaven or hell; and 
the way to know sure to which place you are bound 
is to take the Divine measuring rule and measure. 
God's Book will tell you. It may be that you have 
been riding in the wrong boat. The one is bound 
to the Brighter World, the other to Outer Darkness. 
If you will take the pains to measure your character 
by God's Book you will know just where and how 
you stand to-night. In a very practical sense. 
Heaven is what we make it, and hell is what we make 
it. And I don't think these eternal abodes are very 
far off either; but when once we reach our final 
destination there is no retracing our steps. So we 
should be sure that we do the right thing now. 

SHALL WE KNOW EACH OTHER THERE.^ 

Almost every mother is deeply interested in this 
question, because she has a loved child, or some dear 
one "over there." And there are few young men 
who are not interested in the matter, for they have 
a mother, or a father, or a brother or sister, or some 
old college friend in that "better land.'' Indeed, 
who could be so callous as not to be interested in the 
discussion of this point .^ We all ask the questions 
over and over and over again — -Will we know each 
other there .^ and Will we look like we do here.^ 

Friends, God has not said much about it, but I 
think that from the little He has revealed on this 
subject I can say positively, without any shadow of 
doubt, 



HEAVEN 221 

"yes, we shall know each other in heaven!" 

I will give you but one text, Philippians 3:20, 21: 
— "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence 
also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." 
Do we look for Christ? Of course we do. The 
angels said, "This same Jesus which is taken up 
from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner." 
He has not come yet, but be assured he is coming, 
for God never breaks a promise. Oh, I fear He will 
come all too soon for many of us. If it were officially 
telegraphed to-night that He would be here at 
twelve o'clock to-morrow, do you think there would 
be a single person off their knees in all this great 
city.'^ Do you think there would be a single dollar 
change hands in the gaming hells.? Do you think 
anybody would open a store.'* 

"Oh, no, of course not; but then He won't come 
so soon," says one. 

Perhaps He may not come to-morrow at noon, 
but we know that He is coming, and it is your busi- 
ness and mine to live in constant expectation and 
be always ready. Ah, in the twinkling of an eye He 
will come with his shining cohorts and carry all the 
nations to judgment. Are you ready.? 

"Our conversation is in heaven, from whence also 
we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who 
shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned 
like unto his glorious body." (Change our body 
of humiliation, is the thought, for nothing that God 
has made is vile — change our body of sin, of pain, 
of death), "that it may be fashioned like unto his 
glorious body, according to the working whereby 
he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." 
This same body is to be resurrected, if dead, when 
He comes; and if not dead it will be caught up and 
transformed, and all will be changed hke unto his 



222 HEAVEN 

own glorious body. You remember that Jesus, after 
his resurrection, was changed. He could pass 
through a closed door, and do many wonderful things 
impossible to the natural body. His was a spiritual 
body, and yet it looked like it did before his res- 
urrection; for when Thomas would not believe. 
He told him to place his fingers in the prints of the 
nails, and to thrust his hand into the rent of the 
spear. And, in the instance of the two disciples on 
the way to the village of Emmaus, He walked and 
talked with them, but they did not recognize Him 
until, while sitting at meat, they were led by His 
prayer to look at Him critically; then they knew 
Him, because He looked so much like He did before. 
I think that when the body is transformed there will 
be a purer, sweeter look, but we will not appear 
any taller, or shorter, or materially different any 
way, but we will be clothed with immortality, and 
the new body will not be subject to pain nor sorrow, 
and there will be no cloud upon the brow. Instead 
of the remorse and gloom that sometimes cloud our 
faces here, there will be a look of perpetual joy, 
the unfading bloom that cometh from the presence 
of the Lord. 

Yes, I believe that every mother will know her 
child in Heaven. Indeed, I think we will know each 
other better. We don't know each other very well 
here; there is nothing so peculiar as the human 
heart, and we don't get very well acquainted in this 
life. Perhaps the vast majority of our troubles 
arise from misunderstandings, because we don't know 
each other. Up there we will know our loved ones, 
and dwell with them forever, for there will be no 
cruel separations in heaven. And if we wish to be 
in some other part of God's Glorious Abode, the 
wish will have immediate fulfillment, for Up There 
space and time will have no entrance. 



HEAVEN 223 

No more death or dying, no more folding of tired 
hands, no more worn, pale faces, no more pain! 
Oh, will it not be glorious! We will mount up as 
upon the wings of the eagle; we shall run and not 
be weary. In the last chapter of Revelation, John 
says: "And he showed me a pure river of water 
of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne 
of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street 
of it, and on either side of the river, was there the 
tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and 
yielded her fruits every month; and the leaves of the 
tree were for the healing of the nations. And there 
shall be no more curse; but the throne of God and of 
the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve 
him; and they shall see his face." 

That is one of the most precious promises in the 
Bible, I think — "they shall see his face." I have 
been preaching Christ for years, but I have never 
seen His face. Oh, how I long to look upon his 
blessed features! We have all heard about God from 
childhood, but we have never seen His face. But in 
heaven this promise will be fulfilled. 

"And His name shall be in their foreheads. And 
there shall be ho night there; and they need no candle, 
neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth 
them light; and they shall reign forever and ever. 
And he said unto me, these sayings are faithful and 
true; and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent 
his angel to show unto his servants the things which 
must shortly come to pass." Ah, yes, these sayiitgs 
are faithful and true^ and it will be a glorious place 
indeed, beyond all power of speech to describe. John 
tried to describe it, but he was limited to the use of 
human words. No human tongue or pen can ade- 
quately describe Heaven. In a severely practical 
sense, it must be seen to be appreciated. The great 



224 



HEAVEN 



question is. Are we so living as to have assurance of 
ever seeing that Blest Abode? 

I never grow tired of that little poem of Mrs. 
Hemans: 

"Eye hath not seen it, my.gentle boy, 
Ear hath not heard its deep songs of joy; 
Dreams cannot picture a world so fair, 
Sorrow and death cannot enter there; 
Time doth not breathe on its fadeless bloom. 
Far beyond the clouds and beyond the tomb — 
It is there, it is there, my child." 

We speak of heaven sometimes as the Great Be- 
yond. If we mean beyond the Jordan of Death, the 
expression is all right; but if we mean beyond the 
universe, I doubt its consistency. Let me quote you 
a passage right here from one of my friend Updike's 
sermons, a passage prepared for him by a gifted 
astronomer of Ohio. Perhaps it may serve in enlarg- 
ing your vision on this subject as it did my own: — 

"If you were permitted to stand on one of the gol- 
den rings of Saturn, you would see another firma- 
ment of suns, moons and stars stretching overhead, 
and all around. Then could you go on to the nearest 
fixed star. Alpha Centura, with its two suns, shining 
with light equal to forty-six times the intensity of 
our sun, and stand on one of the beautiful planets 
there, you would behold the firmament of the Polar 
Star system, whose light is forty-six years reaching 
our earth. From thence you would see Vega, which 
shines with a light equal to four hundred and forty 
of our suns. Could you then pass on up the silent 
aisles of the heavenly temple of the shining mon- 
archs of Vega, you would see the glittering firma- 
ment of Capella, blazing with several suns. From the 
golden brow of Capella, you would behold the firma- 
ment of Arcturus shining with a light equal to five hun- 



HEAVEN 225 

dred and fifty of such suns as shine in the blue vault 
which surrounds us. Could you stand upon one of 
the planet^s in the bewildering firmament of Arcturus, 
you would not then be beyond the reach of the 
telescope, or the calculations of bold astronomers. 
Above you would discover glorious Alcyon send- 
ing forth a flood of light, equal to twelve thousand of 
our little suns. But this is only the beginnings — 
the mere vestibule of the starry temple. There are 
celestial systems lying beyond, some of which, v/e 
have every reason to believe, contain upwards of 
twenty-two thousand suns each — and think! each 
system is a firmament with a family of revolving 
planets a million times larger than our ovv^n. It is 
affirmed by those who have spent a lifetime in the 
exploration of the starry heavens, that there are no 
less than eighteen million suns shining in the fir- 
mament, within reach of Lord Ross' mighty telescope! 
Well may we ask, where are the frontiers of the 
boundless heavens — the last remote spot, beyond 
which no star glitters on the dark bosom of eternal 
night — where is the verge of the universe.^ where 
are the highest heavens, the home of the redeemed? 
Who dares to say that he could count the grand total 
of heaven's millions of firmaments, one above an- 
other, even though he could count a million years at 
the rate of five hundred per minute? Could you fly in a 
straight line with the velocity of light from the edge 
of Alcyon, the sixth firmament beyond ours, it would 
take you billions of years to reach the highest 
heaven. Nay, if you v/ere to travel through all 
eternity, you would never reach the outer bounds of 
Jehovah's vast and beautiful temple, beyond which 
no suns may be found exploring their way through 
the infinite heavens, burning into the dark concaves 
of night. 



226 HEAVEN 

Now if the home of the redeemed is beyond the 
stars, as many imagine, it will never be reached, for 
THERE IS NO BEYOND. If Adam and Eve had started 
from the garden of Eden for heaven, six thousand 
years ago, they could not have reached it yet." 

May it not be that heaven, the "Beyond" of which 
Vi^e speak, is in the center of all this last expanse, 
in some glorious sun that knows no night .^ John 
speaks of measuring the capital city, 12,000 furlongs. 
The length and the breadth and the height of it 
v/ere equal. But that is figurative language again. 
The fact is that there is nothing in geometry, nothing 
in trigonometry, nothing whatever in higher math- 
ematics capable of giving us an adequate idea of the 
immensity of heaven. Certainly it is something 
worth working for, something worthy the good con- 
fession, worthy the faith, repentance, and baptism 
demanded. It is worth a life of earnest toil and 
earnest devotion; worth all the heart can give; worth 
our noblest ambitions, and our noblest efforts. 

Yes, praise God, there is a haven of eternal rest 
awaiting us, a place of joy and bliss for all who live 
right; a place of perpetual activity, where we will 
know no wrong, no sorrow, no remorse. And we 
shall know each other there! Do you want to go 
there? Then com.e, and accept Christ, for there is 
no other v/ay. You cannot work your way there 
through your own deeds of what you may call right- 
eousness. Jesus says, "No man cometh to the 
Father but by me." So I ask you to confess His 
name to-night, and to take upon yourself the sacred 
vows of the Christian life. Will you not do it.^^ It 
is something you will have to do some day, but if 
you put it off until compelled by Omnipotent force 
to do it, the act will not avail unto salvation. So 
confess Him now, and enter into His service. Then 



HEAVEN 227 

when the last trump sounds, and you are summoned 
to Judgment, you will be privileged to hear the 
sweet words of Jesus,"Come, ye blessed of my Father; 
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foun- 
dation of the world.'' (Matt, 25:34.) Abraham will 
be there, and Isaac and Jacob; David, Paul, John, 
and all the worthies of the ages. I would to God 
that every person here who is not a Christian might 
start heavenvv^ard to-night. Come and lay your sins 
at the feet of Jesus, and there will be sunshine in 
your soul to-morrow! 



THE GREAT COMMISSION. 

"Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching 
them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, 
lo, I am with you alv.'ays, even unto the end of the world. Amen.'"' 
Matt. 28:19, 20. 

There are two great commissions in the history of 
our country. The commission that made Washington 
commander-in-chief of the Colonial Army was a great 
commission. When the British armies were advanc- 
ing, and the cause of American freedom was at stake, 
it was necessary that some bold and trustworthy 
leader be found, and all eyes were centered on George 
Washington, the young General from Virginia. It 
was truly a great commission the patriots gave him 
and caused him in the end to be spoken of as the 
Father of his Country. He led the thirteen colonies on 
to a great victory and in one sense became the founder 
of the greatest nation of all history. 

Then the commission that sent Benjamin Franklin 
to the Court of France was a great commission. By 
his marvelous shrewdness and keen statesmanship 
he was enabled to form an alliance with that great 
power which proved of untold value to the Colonies 
during the Revolution. If it had not been for the 
kindness of France, in sending General La Fayette 
and others to our assistance, we might not have been 
able at that time, if ever, to free ourselves from the 
yoke of foreign rule. 

There have been great commissions all through his- 

228 



THE GREAT COMMISSION 229 

tory. The commissions to which I have referred had 
to do with the affairs of nations. But there have 
been great theological commissions, and great literary 
commissions, and great social commissions, and com- 
missions of every nature, some involving much, and 
some little. But there has been but one commission 
from the beginning of time to the present that can be 
truly cdiWed T/ze Great Comm.ission; Washington's 
was <3: great commission; Benjamin Franklin's was 
a great commission; and the commission of King 
James, which resulted in the gift to the world of 
what we commonly call the "King James Version," 
was a great commission. But the commission I want 
to talk about to-day is v*^orthy of being designated as 
T/ie Great Commission, for it is greater than all 
others combined both in its conception and in its 
results. - 

We find several different records of this commission, 
but the one I prefer as a text is recorded in the last 
part of the tvv^enty -eighth Chapter of Matthew, and it 
is well called, ^^ Jesus' Marching Orders to His 
Churchy It is couched in very simple language, and 
it is free from all flashy seals, such as we usually 
have attached to modern commissions. It takes only 
half a minute to read it, and the humblest peasant 
can understand it without legal assistance. 

Then why call it The Great Commission? Because 
from its promulgation have come the greatest bless- 
ings to the human race, both temporal and eternal. 
It has already revolutionized the world, although the 
work is but fairly begun. 

The exact time and place of the giving of this com- 
mission is not known. Some think it may have been 
given several days before His ascension, and from 
another mountain in Galilee. But it seems to me 
more probable that it was given just before, and that 



230 THE GREAT COMMISSION 

consequently the words are among the last He ever 
spoke before the angels came down to take Him to 
glory. It was a very serious occasion, a time to be 
remembered forever by those who were present and 
who heard the wonderful words that fell from His 
lips. As He walked out with them, Jesus, no doubt, 
spoke many words not recorded. It will be a pleasant 
thing when we reach heaven to talk with Peter and 
James and John, and have them tell us everything the 
Master said as He went out to the mount with them 
on this last trip before His ascension. Comparatively 
little of all that our Master said and did is recorded. 
You remember that John says, "If they should be 
written every one, I suppose that even the world 
itself could not contain the books that should be 
written." (Jno. 21:25.) And again, "These are 
written that ye might believe." (John 20:31.) I 
would like to have further particulars concerning a 
great many things connected with the life of our 
Lord, and I'm sure we can profitably spend a few 
hundred years in heaven in thinking about these things 
and looking over their history as we shall be able to 
do more satisfactorily there. 

So the Saviour conversed with his chosen followers 
on the way from Jerusalem to the mount. Upon 
reaching their destination I imagine the Apostles 
formed a little semicircle about Him, Peter at the 
head and John at the foot. At this juncture I surmise 
there v/as a short pause, while the Master calmly and 
lovingly surveyed the little company. After looking 
into the face of each with such tenderness and con- 
fidence as only the Son of God could possess, He 
made a declaration which I would to God every man, 
woman and child might hear, understand and weigh. 
Listen! "All power is given unto me in heaven and 
in earth." And then follows the Great Commission: 



THE GREAT COMMISSION 231 

"Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing 
thern in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all 
things whatsoever I have commanded you; and, lo, 
I am with you always, even unto the end of the 
world. Amen.'' 

Novv^ let us look at these words critically, for more 
potent language was never uttered since the world 
began. It is from this commission that every true 
Christian worker under the sun derives his authority, 
and we should make no mistake in its interpretation 
and application. The whole text naturally divides 
itself into six heads (and we ought always to allow 
the Bible to divide itself naturally). First we have the 
introduction, and then the four points of argument, and 
lastly the conclusion, or peroration. It is in one 
sense the world's greatest address in sixty words! 

In the introduction, the Great Speaker makes the 
simple yet all-comprehensive statement that He is 
Lord of alL Never before had He used such signifi- 
cant language. "All power is given unto me in heaven 
and in earth.'' Before this the Master had raised the 
dead, and caused the blind to see; He had held His 
hand out over the raging sea and said, "Peace, be 
still," and the winds and waves had obeyed him; He 
had dehvered the Sermon on the Mount, the greatest 
sermon the ears of men have ever heard or ever will 
hear. But never before had He said, "^//authority 
is mine," Hence this declaration is to be taken as 
of very great consequence. 

All Power, What does it mean? It certainly does 
not mean that all power belongs to the Pope of 
Rome, the great antichrist of prophecy. It certainly 
does mean that this silken-robed dignitary who sits in 
poor old deluded Rome, clothed with an ill-gotten 
authority, and claiming that he has all power;that he 



232 THE GREAT COMMISSION 

can forgive sins, or withhold forgiveness; and that he 
can make the emperors of the world tremble when 
his edicts go forth, is a gigantic fraud! That's what 
it means in plain, everyday English. And it means 
that those who serve him as the representative of 
Christ are serving a gilt-edged impostor. The 
Pope claims to be the "viceroy of Christ, '^ and there- 
fore infallible and all-powerful. But Christ says, "All 
power is given unto 7;^^, both in heaven and in earths 
And in the Book of Revelation He is called the "King 
of Kings and Lord of Lords." It is an awful thing 
for any sinful man, or any number of fallible human 
creatures to presume to such dignity as do some. Let 
Catholics and Protestants alike be careful lest in 
their presumptions God cut them off as cumberers, 
and give His work into humbler and truer hands. 

But why had Jesus never said this before? Be- 
cause He could not say it consistently until He had 
gone down into the grave and had wrestled with 
death, and had conquered this, the world's greatest 
enemy. He came forth from the unseen having done 
what no one else had ever done, — He had conquered 
Death. After His resurrection He could truly say, 
"All power is given unto me. '* The hope of Christian- 
ity lies in the truth of the Resurrection. It is the 
great central point around which all the facts of the 
Gospel revolve. The three greatest words of the 
Bible are these — "//^ is Risen,^^ Well does Paul say 
in First Corinthians 15:14, "If Christ be not risen, 
then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also 
vain." And again, "If in this life only we have hope 
in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But 
now is Christ risen from the dead and become the 
first fruits of them that slept." Over four thousand 
years had rolled by since the creation of man. Millions 
upon millions had come and gone, but not one had 



THE GREAT COMMISSION 233 

ever, of his own volition, returned from the dead. So 
when Jesus in Kis own strength met this arch-enemy 
of humanity's happiness, and, after tiiree days of 
conflict came forth gloriously victorious, He demon- 
strated His divinity beyond the shadow of a doubt, 
and established forever His right to be heard as the 
chief potentate of heaven and earth. 

And now this great Ruler gives us the promise of 
peace, pardon, and life eternal, if we keep His re- 
quirements. He is all-pG\verrul, and to have his favor 
is better than all the world beside. But Christ's 
curse is the worst thing that can fall upon the soul; 
for that means banishment from Heaven, a calamity 
far worse than a thousand physical deaths. So let us 
be careful to recognize His authority in all the walks 
of life. If v/e speak, let us speak as Jesus commanded. 
If w'e pray, let us pray in rlis name. And whatever 
w^e do, let us do it according to His holy will. Herein 
lies a great lesson which the world has so far been 
slow to learn. We have always paid too much at- 
tention to the sayings of men. Hence a multitude of 
conflicting creeds and dogmas. But we should care- 
fully inquire. What does He say? Then listen at- 
tentively, and obey implicitly. If churches and Chris- 
tian people generally would adopt this rule, we could 
remove a great deal that keeps the w^orld divided and 
in sin, and accomplish more for Christ in one year 
than in a century of this Kufaithfulness to the all- 
aiitho7'ity of our Lord. 

We come, secondly, to what homileticians would 
designate as the argument. There are naturally four 
points, or heads, in this division of the mighty theme. 
Let us look at them in order. After His unusal dec- 
laration of all-power-ship, the apostles listened 
earnestly, I im.agine, for they knew that words of 
trem.endous import were coming. It is not probable 



234 ^^^ GREAT COMMISSION 

that they comprehended the real seriousness of the 
occasion, nor the far-reaching importance of the 
commission they v/ere receiving. And yet I feel sure 
that they were never before so deeply impressed with 
both the theme and words of their Master. It was a 
solemn, but sweet occasion. 

After saying," All power is given unto me in heaven 
and earth," the Saviour gave His commission in these 
memorable words: — "Go ye, therefore, and teach all 
nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching 
them to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
manded you." 

Now what is the first of the four great points 
that we find couched in this language.? Listen! 
It is a simple one but all-important: ^^GoT Ah, 
yes! a little v/ord, but world-wide in its beneficent 
sweep. The apostles had first come, and now Jesus 
commands them to go. Herein lies the secret of 
successful Christian propagandism. We have hardly 
taken the first step as yet in carrying out this great 
command. We have Come^ and Stopped s/iort. 
But Christ says Go, a little word of two letters, 
yet in this word is wrapped the whole sum and sub- 
stance of Christ's gospel. Go! It should be the 
watchword of every true disciple. It should be em- 
blazoned on the banners of the Church. It should 
be the controlling spirit, the moving motive, of 
every man, woman and child that hopes for salvation. 

"Go," says the Master. Have we gone.? Eighteen 
hundred years have elapsed since the command 
was given and yet to-day nearly if not quite two- 
thirds of the inhabitants of this poor old world have 
never so much as heard that there is a Saviour! 
Eighteen long centuries have dragged their weary 
lengths down the dusty vista of time, and yet more 



THE GREAT COMMISSION 235 

than 800,000,000 are sitting in darkness! Oh, 
brother, is this the best return we can make to 
J.-eus for all Kis love to us! I tell you I believe that 
the measure of our responsibility is our ability ^ and 
it will be so considered in the last day. And I fear 
that among these who have professed the name of 
Jesus, more than half will be lost, unless they arouse 
themselves more fully to the great work of carrying 
the Glad Tidings to others. Our own salvation 
depends largely on the efforts we put forth in behalf 
of those about us, not only on this side of the sea 
but on the other as well. 

Our people have been wonderfully successful in 
their work of teaching the simple elem.ents of the 
gospel, and in enlisting souls in the armies of the 
Cross. But I am ashamed to say that we are 
away behind our religious rivals in our observance 
of this great point of the commission — "Go." 
Very few men living to-day would dare to meet our 
Clark Braden, or our John Sweeny, in public debate 
on the great issues of the Bible. We can whip the 
world in argum.ents, for we are right doctrinally,and 
well able to defend our position against all assaults. 
But I am glad to say that many who are v*^rong to- 
day doctrinally are right on the first point of the 
Great Commission. It is humiliating, but we must 
admit that the Congregationalists, the Presbyterians, 
the Methodists, the Episcopalians, and the Baptists 
are each and all excelling us in the blessed service 
of going into all the world and teaching the nations. 
We are rolling in wealth as a people. In the Chris- 
tian Church we have men who have an income of 
hundreds, possibly thousands of dollars every day. 
In Kansas City alone, it is said, our people have ten 
million dollars represented. And yet our Foreign 
Missionary Society has never been able to raise a 



236 THE GREAT COMMISSION 

hundred thousand dollars in one year. Why, the poor 
little despised Salvation Army raised that much in one 
week. Ah, it is a shame that a church with a 
million members, and six thousand preachers; a 
church whose members have an annual personal 
income of over $100,000,000.00; and a church whose 
plea strikes the thinking v/orld as that of no other 
religious body, — I repeat that it is a burning shame 
that we should have only 140 missionaries in foreign 
fields. We must bestir ourselves. When all our 
mothers shall be willing to consecrate at least one 
child to preach the gospel to the heathen; when our 
fathers shall be as ready to say, "God bless you, my 
child,'.' to the boy or girl who wishes to go to foreign 
lands to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ 
as to the one who remains at home and makes a 
useful citizen successfully engaged in some honorable 
worldly occupation, then and not till then will w^e 
rise to our duty and privileges as a chosen people 
of God. 

Oh, that our church might catch more of the 
missionary spirit of the apostle Paul! He was a 
prince among missionaries and the greatest preacher 
of Christ the world has ever seen. Suppose we should 
tithe our income as a people, and also tithe our 
membership. What a mighty work would resale! 
There are 650 members in this church,! believe, and 
it is one of our typical congregations. If one out of 
ten of you would consent to go, that would mean sixty- 
five missionaries, or half as many from one church 
as our whole list of 9,000 congregations now furnish! 

Who has not heard of the sacrifices of Sarah 
Hosmer, the Lowell seamstre.^^s v/hose soul was filled 
with the missionary spirit? She was so anxious to 
support a missionary that she tc iled many months 
with her needle until she could save up $50.00, the 



THE GREAT COMMISSION 237 

amount necessary to equip a native Nestorian for 
Gospel work. And this first work was so successful 
and so joyful that she I^pt on sewing until she had 
educated five missionaries, who went out preaching 
Christ in their native land. "When she was more 
than 60 years old," says Strong, "she longed to 
furnish Nestoria with one more preacher; and, living 
in an attic, she took in sewing until she had accom- 
plished her purpose,/;^ the hands of this coitsecrated 
woman, money transformed the factory girl into a 
missionary of the Cross, and then multiplied her six 
fold." She has gone now and the place that once 
knew her shall know her no more. She earned little, 
yet there are six missionaries and perhaps 
thousands of souls to her credit in heaven. When 
such a spirit shall take possession of us, it wall be 
but a question of time when we shall be able to 
evangelize the whole world. 

Well do I remember one of my first missionary 
sermons in the state of Iowa. I was only a student 
preacher, but had prepared my sermon with great 
care, and went out to my country appointment on this 
occasion with great expectations, for I was to preach 
and take up a collection for missions. 

I nearly always went home with Brother So-and- 
So for dinner. He was a fine old man, and worth 
$75,000 or $100,000. He had cattle on many hills, 
and much earthly substance of every kind. And 
he was an old-time member of the church, a great 
"stickler for first principles." Well, I preached my 
sermon, and thought it was pretty w^ell done. After 
I sat down the officers of the church took up a col- 
lection and received something like $1.50, and of 
this sum I distinctly remember putting in fifty cents 
myself. On the way home I thought I would find 
out if I could how my host hked the sermon. (I had 



/ 
/ 



230 THE GREAT COMMISSION 

noticed that he was asleep during the larger part of 
its delivery.) 

"Well,'' he replied to m^^ inquiries, "I think we 
ought to convert the heathen at home first, and 
then give our attention to missions." 

There are many people who feel like that brother, 
and they are doubtless just as honest. He felt that 
he was living consistently. If I remember correctly 
the little church paid me $10,00 a trip, of which 
amount this rich brother, besides giving me my 
dinner, paid 25 cents. And when he attended the 
town church near by they told me he usually diopped 
a dime in the basket. So putting it all together this 
good man probably gave not less than three or 
four dollars a year to convert the heathen at home! 

Oh, stingy soul of mine, when wilt thou look up? 
Why wilt thou always look down like the hog.'^ We 
are ever looking down at our worldly duties, our 
accounts, our possessions, and our secular affairs, 
instead of looking up towards the light that comes 
from heaven. God help the church to get more 
of the Go spirit! 

For twenty-five years the Great Apostle to the Gen- 
tiles compassed land and sea to make proselytes. Like 
his Master, he was missionary to the core. There are 
a few people left on the shores of time who claim 
to be anti-missionary Christians. But, dear friends, 
there really cannot be any such thing as an anti- 
missionary Christian, This is a contradiction of 
terms. The whole genius of Christianity is mis- 
sionary. Why, if Peter and James and John, and 
Philip and Paul and the rest, had staid in Jerusalem 
till "all the heathen at home had been converted," 
there would not be a Christian in the United States 
to-day. Indeed there would be no United States, 
for it was the Gospel that made this nation possible. 



THE GREAT COiMMISSION 239 

We only begin to show forth the love of Jesus when 
we become missionaries at heart. I pray that this 
may be a missionary church. May God put it in 
the soul ci some noble young woman here to-day, 
and some noble young man, to consecrate their lives 
to the great work of carrying out the first point of 
the commission, and within the next twelve months 
may they be making active preparations to go to 
some foreign field as a missionary. 

Over in Kansas at a meeting of perhaps only three 
or four hundred v/orkers from the various Y. M. C. A. 
and Y. W.C.A. organizations of the state, a call was 
made for those to stand up v/ho were willing to go 
as missionaries, and 122 responded! Just think of 
it. Oat of that little m.eeting of only a few hundred 
122 were willing to consecrate themiseives to foreign 
v.ork. And amiong the num.ber were some of the 
brightest young people I ever saw, graduates from 
some of the best colleges in the world. Are we ready 
to-day to lay our all at our Saviour's feet — our hopes, 
our earthly pleasures, our means, our talents, and 
everything? Can we honestly say to-day, "Lord 
take me and use mie as Thou Wilt?" God help us! 
May W'e never again read carelessly over this wonder- 
ful little word. Go, Peihaps it may become the 
text-word of cur soul's loyalty to God. 

Pasedng from the first great point of the commis- 
sion, vvc come to the second: "Teach all nations." 
And I imagine that Peter looked up inquiringly as 
if to say, "What shall we teach them. Lord?" 

Did he say "Go, teach them the 39 Articles of 
Episcopalianism ?" No. 

Did He say, "Go and preach to them the tenetsof 
Roman Catholicism?" No, for this was several hun- 
dred years before there was any such a church. 

Did He say, "Go and preach to them Luther- 



/ 

/ 

/ 



240 THE GREAT COMMISSION 

ariism, or the Augsburg Confession ?'' No, for it was, 
nearly i 500 years before Lather was born. 

Did He say, ''Go and teach them tlie 25 articles 
of Methodism?" No, for it was 1,700 years before 
John Wesley was born. 

Did He say, "Go, teach them the five points of 
Calvinism.?" No, for John Calvin was not bom 
until I 509. 

Then what shall we teach? Campbellismf No, 
for there is no such thing under the sun. x^lexander 
Campbell was a great and good man, and a grate- 
ful people are proud of his memory. ProfessorFowler, 
the father of Phrenology, said there was only one 
other such brain in America, and that was Daniel 
Webster's. When Caupbell left the university of 
Glasgow, his old professor remarked that in all the 
long years of his connection with the institution no 
other such 3^oung man had left their halls. "If he 
lives,'' said the instructor,-^he wuU shake all Europe." 
He lived, and the influence of his masterly thoughts 
are not only shaking Europe but the whole civilized 
world to-day, and yet he did not organize a new 
church. He simply restoi^ed the old. 

"Go teach all nations," said the Master. Teach 
ME. This is the legitimate inference as to the 
meaning of the words, for we find his apostles and 
disciples wherever they went preached Christ, We 
find Paul preaching Christ to the Philippian Jailer. 
We find Philip preaching Jesus to the Ethiopian. 
And indeed the burden of the whole New Testa- 
ment ministry was Jesus of Nazareth the Son of God. 
AndJesus-preaching is to-day the crying need of the 
world. In His conversation with Nicodemus He said, 
"And I, if I be lifted up, wdll draw all men unto me." 
Would to God that every church and every clergy- 
man the world over might lift up Jesus, and Jesus 



THE GREAT COMMISSION 24I 

only.. Oh, that every human creed, and every man- 
made confession of faith, could be burned, or sunk 
in the depths of the sea! If all this grating ma- 
chinery of ecciesiasticism could be swept out cf 
existence to night, and the Church could be left 
without any creed but Christ, to-morrow the prin» 
cipjil stumbling block in the way of Christian Unioii 
w^ould have been removed, and four hundred millioi-s 
cf professed followers of Jesus would find themselves 
priictically one in the great work of extending the 
Kii)gdom. Then in less than ten years the uttermost 
parts of the earth would have heard the message 
■ cf salvation. But to-day _theologians are teaching 
too much of theory and too little of the Lamb of God. 
Hence the cause of true religion often languishes. 

But liow are we to teach Jesus? By telling the 
old, old story of the Cross. We must so present 
the Gospel as to make sinners cry out, "Wh'at must 
i do to be saved?'' And then we must teach them 
the doctrine of Christ, And when we preach 
doctrinal sermons we should not be afraid to con e 
out boldly, though lovingly, and tell the whole 
truth. We can't have true Gospel Meetings without 
doctj'inal sermons, Christianity without doctrine! 
No. A gospel without doctrine would be like a body 
without bones — it could not stand. It is im.possible 
to save a soul without dcctiine. The Word of God, 
which is full of doctriiie, is the light of the w^orld, 
and vvithout its great truths it is impossible to re- 
deem the lost, whether in home or foreign fields. 
It is the business of the Church to go to the un- 
redeemed everyvvhere and teach the love and law of 
the living God. Not only to those of England and 
America, but to those of India, China, and the 
isles of the sea. Mr. Nott labored fourteen years in 
Tahiti without a convert. Finally he succeeded in 



242 THE GREAT COMMISSION 

translating the Gospel of John into the native 
tongue, and soon after won the first soul with that 
wonderful verse beginning, "God so loved the world 
that He gave His only begotten Son." This is said 
to have been the first fruit in Polynesia, where there 
are to-day 750,000 Christians. Dr. John E. Clough's 
labors were similarly blessed in Burmah, where 
10,000 were baptized in twelve months. It is our 
work to go and plant the Gospel beside all 
waters, knowing full well that God will take care 
of the seed and in due course of time bring it to a 
glorious maturity. 

We now come to the third point of the Great 
Commission, and I imagine I hear some one say, 
"Brother Hall, it is getting late, and we fear the 
roast will be spoiled if you don't close and let us 
return home." No, that isn't the truth with you, 
my friends. You fear that I am about to say some- 
thing about baptism, and you are saying to yourself 
that you have heard that subject harped on so much 
that you would rather not hear it mentioned again. 
Well, I don't care to "harp" on it, but I must preach 
the truth as it is in God's Word. I would rather 
that my right hand should be cut off than to willfully 
misrepresent my Master's doctrine. Let the Lord 
cleave my tongue and forbid that I should ever 
attempt to speak another word when I say that 
essentials are ^^ non-essentials ^ I will have to give 
an account of my sermonizing, not to man, but to 
the Divine Father. It does not matter whether 
those who hear me are pleased or not, but it matters 
greatly whether my words and work are accept- 
able unto God. So do not wax uneasy if I spend 
a few minutes in this connection on baptism. So 
many other evangelists neglect their duty in this re- 
3pect that the burden rests all the more heavily on 



THE GREAT COMMISSION 243 

those of us who are willing to preach a whole 
Gospel. 

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing 
them in the name of the Father ^ and of the Son^and 
of the Holy Ghost, "^"^ These are the words of our 
Saviour. And have you ever noticed that the larger 
part of the Commission is taken up with v/ords 
bearing on Christian Baptism.? This is not saying 
that it is the most im.portant thing at all; but it 
stands out so plainly that it is strange that men should 
ever have spoken of it as a 7ion-essentiaL Repent- 
ance and rem.ission of sins should be preached in the 
name of Jesus, Luke says; and Peter declares that 
the only name under heaven whereby men can be 
saved is the name of Christ. And according to Matthew 
tiie only way to get into that name is to be baptized 
into it. Petei and his fellov/ apostles seemed to 
understand it so and on the Day of Pentecost 3,000 
were baptized upon a penitent profession of their 
faith. 

Hence we miust preach baptism. It is a part of 
the Great Commission. The duty is clear. The 
obligation is important. Among the last words 
Christ uttered on earth were, "Baptize them in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy 
Ghost/^ We usually attach great significance to 
the last words of a dear friend. Jesus is the best 
friend the world ever had, and those who love Him 
ou^ht to be quick to observe His farewell directions. 

In this connection it may be v/ell for me to re- 
mark that by baptism the Saviour did not miean 
sprinkling or pouring, but immersion. Those who 
love the truth are growing Vvcary of false teaching 
on this subject. The scholars have settled the 
question long ago as to the meaning of the word 
Jesus used in commianding this sacred ordinance. 



244 THE GREAT COMMISSION 

The inconsistency of trying to make baptizo mean 
anything but io immerse is utterly inexcusable* Jesus 
commanded immersion, but never sprinkling or pour- 
ing. 

"But," says one, "some of my relatives lived and 
died without being immersed, and they were good, 
earnest, conscientious church members. Will they 
be lost?" 

That is not for me to say, for I am not the judge 
of the quick and the dead. If your grandmother 
lived up to all the light she had, and had opportunity 
of having, she is probably in heaven to-day. But 
you are not living up to the light God has given 
you. I do not assert that all who die un-immersed 
are lost. But I do say that there is no promise 
of salvation to any living soul without Christian 
Baptism, which cannot be Scripturally performed 
without immersion. If God chooses to set aside 
His Word ia. some individual case and save without 
immersion, why, that's His business, and not ours. 
But I dare not preach anything unauthorized, and 
sprinkling and pouring are unauthorized. Immersion 
was the uniform practice of the church for 1300 
years, and then the "great anti-Christ" legalized 
sprinkling and pouring at the Council of Ravenna. 

It is too bad that those favoring these unscriptural 
practices persist in ignoring historical facts, and at- 
tempt to substantiate their position by forced interpre- 
tations of the Word. There is a great deal of talk 
about union nowadays, and I rejoice because of 
it. But I believe with Dr. McArthur that if the 
various churches ever do unite it must be at the 
baptistry. There are several millions who can never 
be induced to ignore one of the clearest commands 
of Scripture. Better division than a surface union 
on a shoddy foundation. 



THE GREAT COMMISSION 245 

"But why does the Christian Church make the 
subject so prominent?" says another. 

I will tell you the reason. It is that we are the 
only great Protestant Church which teaches and 
practices baptism just as taught in God's Word. The 
others largely ignore it. The average evangelist 
is practically compelled to remain silent on the sub- 
ject in order to have a Union Meeting. The Baptists 
are right on the action, but wrong on the design. 
Somebody must declare the truth, therefore, and 
why should we fail to do it? Give me one convert 
made right rather than a thousand made wrong. 

In Mr. Mills' meeting at Cincinnati, 150 of his 
so-called converts expressed a preference for the 
Roman Catholic Church. What profit is there in 
stirring up the people to shed hot tears over their 
sins, and then leave them with only a half knowledge 
of the truth, or even worse, a perverted teaching as 
to the requirements of the Gospel, Give me one 
convert made right, I repeat, and you may take your 
thousands of little "believers' cards," which mean 
practically nothing in the vast majority of instances. 
No wonder that skeptics are made. It is a wonder 
there are not more. The great percentage of skeptics 
are made by the infidelity of professed Christians. 
They mistake theology for Christianity. But there 
is a great difference between God's theology and 
man's. In this matter of baptism, for instance,man's 
theology says it is not essential, but God's theology 
says it is. Which will you have? 

Yes, the Christian Church makes this subject of 
baptism quite prominent, because it is compelled 
to so long as others continually neglect it, or if they 
do notice it at all, it is often to attack us for our 
position on the question. You remember that when 
the walls of Jerusalem were being rebuilded, Nehe- 



246 THE GREAT COMMISSION 

miah commanded the workmen that wherever they 
heard the sound of the trumpet, thither should they 
all resort. The trumpet was the danger signal, and 
signified that the enemy was about to attack at 
a certain point. Well, it seems that our religious 
neighbors are very jealous of us in our efforts to 
restore the old walls of Apostolic teaching and prac- 
tice, and they persist in assaulting us at the point of 
baptism. Hence v/e have to sound the trumpet and 
call our forces to the defense of our position. And 
right well have we succeeded. Tens of thousands 
of the enemy have com.e over to us. We see alike 
on most points and ought to do so on this. Our 
work is telling. Many pedo-baptist churches are 
now putting in baptistries in order to accommodate 
those of their congregations who insist on immer- 
sion. Fewer and fewer infants proportionally are 
being sprinkled every year. I tell you the people 
are learning. Let the good work go on. The days 
of affusion are numbered, as are also the days of 
many creeds. We shall soon have less condemna- 
tion of any of the commandments of Christ, and see a 
more prompt and willing submissiveness to the simple, 
yet all-comprehensive plan of salvation as authorized 
in His Great Commission. 

Notwithstanding the clearness with which the 
Disciples always present matters, there are some v/ho 
assert that we teach that all sinners have to do is to 
go down into the water and be baptized. Over in 
Iowa certain jealous neighbors declared that all the 
Christian Church believed in was dipping; that after 
baptism our members might sv/ear, steal, or get drunk, 
and yet remain saved. And out in a Kansas town 
where I once labored, there was a man who 
didn't like our people very much, and he took delight 
in peddling the same old falsehood, that all the Chris- 



THE GREAT COMMISSION 247 

tian Church cared for was to get people under the 
water. 

But what does the Great Commission say? Our 
belief and practice is in accord with that. Read 
carefully the third and fourth points: — "Baptizing 
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to obsei^ve all 
things ^wJioAsoever 1 have commanded you^ One 
might come forward here, and penitently make the 
good confession, and Brother Allen, your pastor, 
might baptize him in strict accordance with the 
demands of Scripture, and yet that individual might 
be lost. Baptism cannot save only in its place, 
and faith cannot save only in its place, and repent- 
ance cannot save only in its place, and prayer can- 
not save only in its place. AH the elements must 
be linked together in order to save. What doth it 
profit if a man is baptized only to live the life of a 
drunkard? No matter though he might be dipped a 
thousand times, if he goes hom.e and beats his wife, 
and cuffs his innocent children, and conducts himself 
like a beast, he will be lost, unless he penitently re- 
forms. And what doth it profit a young man or a young 
woman to be baptized, and then go to the average 
theater? When you go down to that questionable 
amusement hall, that savors of lust and all un- 
cleanness; when you witness these many unhallowed 
things that would make you blush for shame if in 
the presence of that Christian mother who is at home 
praying for you, what, under such circumstances, does 
baptism amount to? Nothing to you, of course, for 
you are satan's choicest catch. 

Oh, my friends, you must assuredly be baptized, 
but afterwards you m.ust also faithfully "observe 
all things whatsoever Jesus has commanded you." 
He teaches us to pray, to endure persecution, to 



248 THE GREAT COMMISSION 

make sacrifices, to spend and be spent in His service, 
and, in short, to surrender self completely to the 
will of Almighty God. In his second epistle Peter 
outlines our duty pointedly when he says, "Add to 
your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to 
knowledge temperance; and to temperance pa- 
tience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness 
brotherly kindness; and to brotherly Jdndness 
charity.'- Our people have often made a serious 
mistake in teaching the people the first principles of 
Christianity and then leaving them without further 
care. For instance, a preacher goes to some country 
school house and commences a "protracted meeting/' 
He preaches a series of sermons about as follows: — 
I St, The Divinity of Christ; 2nd, The Divisions of 
the Bible; 3rd, Faith; 4th, Repentance; and 5th, 
Baptism. This is all very well as far as it goes. 
But the mistake comes in stopping here and report- 
ing a "great meeting at Pleasant Valley. Organized 
a church with fifty members, and appointed a plurality 
of elders and deacons, etc.'' These officials perhaps 
are men who have just come into the church, and 
who are utterly incompetent to fill the important 
positions to which they have been assigned. The 
little flock, being left thus to "edify one another," 
with no shepherd to lead them, soon falls to v^^ran- 
gling,or else dies a natural death from inactivity. It 
is impossible to tell how many congregations have 
been thus established, or rather not established. It is 
too bad. The Great Commission plainly insists that 
we should watch over these young converts, and 
train them in the way of life. If they fall down, we 
must help them up, and not give them a kick, 
saying, "I didn't expect anything better of you any- 
way; that is usually the way with Evangelist So-and- 
So's converts." 



THE GREAT COMMISSION 249 

There is a little "fad'' among a certain class of 
pastors nowadays to say, "We don't want an 
evangelist; we prefer to conduct our own special 
meetings, believing that the converts made will 
hold out better." I heard of one pastor remarking 
that he would rather have one person come to him 
on the street and express his determination to be- 
come a Christian than to have many press forward 
under the labors of an evangelist. But how many 
will come on the street? Very few. The history 
of conversions proves that the vast majority of those 
who come to Christ come during revivals. The 
time will never come when the evangelist will not 
be needed to stir up the people. But when once 
they are stirred up, it is the pastor's business to 
keep them stirred. He m.ust "teach them to observe 
all things whatsoever Jesus has com.manded." The 
new convert as well as the "worldling" needs to be 
instructed to do what God says, in God's way. 

At this juncture I imagine brave Peter's heart fell; 
and John, hopeful as he was, looked serious and 
thought this a great task the Master had commanded. 
Possibly they said, "The Jews are our sworn enemies; 
we will be turned away from their synagogues, and 
everywhere difficulties will beset us. Oh, dear Mas- 
ter, the burden you have laid upon us is so great!" 

And if left to carry it alone, they had been right. 
But Jesus has not yet concluded. The "peroration" 
of His brief discourse, if so we call it, is one of the 
grandest things of all history, and has perhaps done 
more to cheer disciples on to victory than any other 
equal number of words ever spoken. The Saviour 
discerned the misgivings of his beloved followers, 
and was quick to meet the sam.e with the climax of 
promises. Listen ! "Z^, / am with you alzvays, even 
unto the end of the world, AmenT 



250 THE GREAT COMMISSION 

How wonderfully sweet are those words, and hov^ 
far-reaching! The promise reaches right ap to 
heaven, right up to God, right up to the pillars of 
glory! I always liked that sweet hymn of Fanny 
Crosby's which seems to be so fall of trust in this 
last promise of Jesus: — 

"All the way my Saviour leads me; 
What have I to ask beside? 
Can I doubt his tender mercy, 
Who through life has been my guide? 
Heavenly peace, divinest comfort, 
Here by faith in Him to dwell! 
For I know whate'er befall me, 
Jesus doeth all things well." 

No, it does not make any difference where we are, 
He will be with us. We may go down by the cold, 
dark river of folly, disappointment and death;but He 
will be with us, and, if we but trust Him fully. He 
will lead us up the mountain side to victory at last. 
He will lead us through the darkness into the light! 

So go on without fear. God has given you a work 
to do; then do it in His way. Never mind what the 
world may say; the devil will always be offended if 
you do your duty. You may expect to offend him; 
you will hardly be doing right if you fail to beat him 
in every way possible, and on all occasions. I vvant 
to take all the money I can away from him for Christ, 
I want to tear all the power and influence I can 
out of his wicked hands for my Master. The devil 
is no friend of man, and we should look him squarely 
in the face and shout sternly, "Get thee behind me, 
Satan." We should never be afraid of him, for 
Christ will be with us always. 

But the young convert must remember that he can't 
go sailing up to heaven on ^-flowery beds of ease." 
The poet was right when he said, "Sure I must fight 
if I would win." Yes, the Saviour calls for soldiers 



THE GREAT COMMISSION 25 1 

of the Cross, who will go out in the highways and 
byways and contest with Satan for every unregen- 
erate heart. It is our business to bring the weary and 
heavy-laden to Jesus, He will heal them with the 
"Balm of Gilead," 

Go on, then, in the march of faith. If you ever 
fail, or feel that you are about to fall, oh, lean 
heavily upon this precious promise of Christ, "Lo, I 
am with you always." For whether down in the 
v.alley or up on the mountain's top; whether 
in adversity or prosperity, the sweet voice 
of our Captain will be heard saying, "Lo, I am 
with you always, even unto the end of the world." 

Over in Svvdtzerland there is some wonderful 
scenery. To be fully appreciated it must be viewed 
from the summit of a tall mountain peak. But the 
ascent is very difficult and dangerous. But if the 
traveler \vishes to climb the height, a trusty guide 
comiCS along and says, "I will take you up safely." 
The guide is familiar with all the winding paths and 
perilous abysses. He is not afraid of the dangerous 
avalanches and m.ighty snow-slides for which the 
Alpine ranges are noted. He fastens one end of a 
strong rope around the traveler's body, and ties the 
ether end to his own, after w^hich the pair begin 
the ascent. When the sturdy mountaineer sees the 
snow-slide coming he knows just what to do to keep 
from being overwhelm.ed. The traveler stumbles 
often, but the faithful guide holds him up. Many 
times you feel that you will surely fall and be lost, 
but that strong m.an, with his feet planted firmly on 
the rocks, supports you. Finally you reach the sum- 
mit of the mountain and behold the indescribable 
beauty of Switzerland's bewitching scenery. 

Thus at the foot of the mountain of life stands the 
Son of Man, willing and able to guide us. He stands 



252 THE GREAT COMMISSION 

ready to throw about us His strong arms of love; and 
if we will only let Him, He will lead us up the wind- 
ing and dangerous paths of this hard life, and at last 
we shall find our feet firmly planted on the summit 
of Mount Zion, where we will behold all the glories 
of the New Jerusalem, "prepared as a bride adorned 
for her husband!" 

God help us, then, to be true to all the demands of 
this great commission. May we fight valiantly the 
good fight of faith, and at last win the victor's crowm! 
Jesus is the "Captain of our Salvation/' Let us 
neglect no duty He has laid upon us. 

Are there not those here to-day who want to march 
with us! Are there not those here who would take 
the "sword of the spirit," and the "shield of faith," 
and who would have their "feet shod with the prep- 
aration of the gospel of peace," ready to do battle 
for the Lord? Are there not those here who are will- 
ing to go out and fight like Spartans? If so, come, 
and enlist in God's own appointed way. A heroic 
life is the Christian's, a life of glorious conquest. So 
come thou with us, and v^e will do thee good! Come, 
and you will not only bring peace and joy to your 
own heart, but inexpressible gratitude to the hearts 
of others who are praying for you. 



WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 

I was surely surprised v/hen I came into the build- 
ing this evening to find so many present. I remarked 
to Mrs. Hall as we were coming over that I supposed 
we would have but about a "baker's dozen" present, 
the weather is so very inclement. I thank you very 
much for braving the storm. It proves that you are 
deeply interested in the work, and I wish to express 
my appreciation of your zeal and courage. Rain or 
shine, hot or cold, the people of God should never 
neglect the sanctuary. Eternal destiny is at stake, 
and it behooves us one and all to be faithful under 
every circumstance, 

"Where do you expect to spend Decoration Day.'^'' 
That is a question that a great many ask each 
other about the 25th of May each year. It is a 
precious day all over this great nation, and there are 
few loyal Americans who do not observe it in one 
way or another. 

A little later the question is, "Where do you 
expect to spend the Fourth of July?" I vividly re- 
member that this was a very important question all 
through my youth. My father was a farmer, and he 
allowed me five cents a scalp for all the gophers I 
trapped, and two cents for squirrels. By the first 
of July, I had usually earned a neat little sum, and 
it became an important question as to hov^ and where 
I should spend that money. I would post up the best 
I could from the pages of our country paper, and 
read all the handbills I could find, and then when 

25a 



254 WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 

all we neighbor boys met at Sunday School we 
would talk matters all over and determine on a 
course of action for the greatest national holiday. 

Five months later each year the question is, 
"Where are you going to spend Thanksgiving Day?'* 
And later still, "Where are you going to spend your 
Christmas?" These are always interesting questions 
both to children and to old people. How anxiously 
each year Grandpa and Grandma look forward to 
Thanksgiving, when the children will all gather 
about the old hearthstone once more, coming from 
east, west, north and south, all eager to show off 
their babies, and to eat pumpkin pie again at the 
dear old home! And then Christmas — blessed Christ- 
mas! "What did you get?'' is the watchword of the 
little folks for a week afterwards. 

Then again in June we have two predominating 
questions: First, "Whom are you going to marry?" 
and second," What are you going to do after school?" 
In this beautiful month we will have college com- 
mencements all over the land. Our three or four 
hundred colleges and universities annually turn out 
thousands of bright graduates, and the boys and girls 
spend many happy hours discussing future prospects. 

"Where are you going to spend your vacation?" is 
a July and August question among over-worked busi- 
ness and professional men. 

Now these are all momentous questions. I would 
not for a moment underestimate their importance. 
But we have for consideration to-night a far more 
weighty question than any of these I have just pro- 
pounded. It is a question that reaches beyond the 
clouds, and moves the heart of man as nothing else 
can. Listen! 

"where shall I SPEND ETERNITY?" 

If I should stand here and ask in the usual form, 



WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 255 

'*Where do j/ou expect to spend Eternity ?" the young 
men in yonder row might think I was talking to the 
young men across the aisle. So I want every Chris- 
tian in the house, and every person not a follower 
of Christ, to ask the question of themselves to-night. 
Make it emphatically personal: "Where shall 7 
spend Eternity?" It is without doubt the miOst im- 
portant problem that will ever be brought before us 
for solution. Questions of faith and doctrine are 
important, and should be carefully considered. Every 
intelligent Christian should investigate the tenets of 
his religion. We should all endeavor to know what 
this means, and what that m_eans. And yet all 
questions of doctrine are insignificant in themselves 
except as they have bearing on this question. All 
other questions, whether of politics, science, of 
religion or the arts, are of secondary importance to 
this one, because upon our answer to this question 
hangs our eternal vvelfare. 

And yet, important as it is, very few, compara- 
tively, are earnestly discussing it. 

"Where shall I spend Eternity?'^ I expect to spend 
it in a good place. And you can't find a man in 
Chicago, I suppose, however wicked he may be, who 
does not expect to get better before he dies, and so 
spend Eternity in a better place. But this careless 
way of putting off our duty is very uncertain. We 
shall have no opportunity of getting better beyond the 
present life. Unless we get better now there is no 
hope for a happy hereafter. Hence every living per- 
son should put the best thought of his life upon these 
matters. This existence can be but brief at best, 
perhaps three score years and ten, perchance four 
score. What then? How short is t-i-m-e! Short 
in spelling; short in reality. How long is e-t-e-r- 
'N-i-t-y! Long in spelling; long in reality. The 



256 WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 

manner in which you spend time will settle your 
location for Eternity. 

It is hard to get the world to believe in a Day of 
Judgment, and yet it is coming, as sure as there is 
a God in heaven. You cannot believe . otherv/ise 
if you are consistent. We find that the inspired 
writers of the Bible again and again give us startling 
revelations on the subject. 

Take, for instance, the T6th chapter of Matt, 
and 27th verse: "For the^Son of Man shall come in 
the glory of his Father v^ith his angels; and then 
He shall reward every man according to his works." 
When will this occur? On the Day of Judgment. 
At least the world's greatest commentators so agree. 

In Romans 14:10, we have this language: "But 
why dost thou judge thy brother.? or why dost thou 
set at naught thy brother.? for we shall all stand be- 
fore the Judgment Seat of Christ." It is so hard to 
get men to believe this. They live in sin too much. 
They yield to appetite, lust, and the pride of life. 
They Jove earthly pleasures. They do not want to 
think about giving a final account for the many evil 
deeds done in the body. They do wrong to make 
money, or to gratify some sinful desire, and they do 
not want to be reminded of a Day of Judgment. But 
the apostle declares that "we shall all appear before 
the Judgment Seat of Christ." And Paul was inspired. 
In writing these solemn words he indited the mind 
of our Maker. God never deceives His children, and 
when He warns us that we must all prepare to stand 
before the Judgment Seat of Christ, He means it. So 
surely as we sit here to-night, so surely shall we stand 
at the bar of eternal judgment at the last day. The 
burning thought for the soul is, when He summons us 
will we be ready to go and look into His all-wise face? 

In 2 Cor. 5:10, we read: — "For we must all 



WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 257 

appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ; that 
everyone may receive the things done in his body, 
according to that he hath done, whether it be good 
or bad." Thus twice has Paul recorded this state- 
ment with reference to the Judgment Seat of Christ, 
And in asserting that we shall all be judged accord- 
ing to the deeds we have done in the body, he but 
voices the expressed sentiment of Job, and David, and 
Jesus himself. It is a matter that should call forth 
the most serious meditation and resolution. 

If we were to be judged to-night according to the 
deeds done in the body, oh, what would we each 
receive? This judgment will reach every one, the old 
man and the young man, the mother, the wife, the 
child. Not one accountable person shall escape the 
final examination. Would to God it might solemnize 
our hearts and urge every careless son of Adam to 
get ready without delay to meet the Great Judge of 
the quick and the dead. 

Hebrews 9:27, 28: "And as it is appointed unto 
men once to die, but after this the Judgment; so 
Christ was once offered to bear the sins of m.any; 
and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the 
second time without sin unto salvation. '^ He has 
not appeared the second time yet, but he will appear 
in His own good time. In Him only have we hope. 
If we believe and obey Him we shall have fullness 
of joy; but if we neglect to walk in His footsteps we 
shall be undone forever. 

A little boy who has not disobeyed papa and 
mamma is not afraid to meet them and to look into 
their faces. Witness his happy expression as he 
bounds into the room after doing some errand for 
them. He says, "Papa, I have done what you and 
mamma told me to do." And he expects to be re- 
warded and praised for it. But if the lad has been 



258 WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 

told to carry in a load of wood, for instance, but 
instead of obeying goes out the back way and plays, 
he fears to meet the parental countenance. Two or 
three times mamma calls to him, "Johnny, why don't 
you bring me that wood ?'' but he keeps on playing. 
When the dinner bell sounds he realizes that he is 
awfully hungry, but he is slow to respond. He 
doesn't go bounding in to meet papa with that ex- 
pectant look which characterizes the obedient child. 
No, he is almost afraid to enter the dining-room for 
fear that mamma will look at him askance. So it 
will be with us, my brother, if we persist in trampling 
our Father's commandments under foot. If we shall 
have turned away from Him all our lives, it will be 
with shame-covered faces that we at the bar of judg- 
ment meet Him. But if we shall have kept His 
commandments, we will then be joyful, knowing that 
He will say: "Well done, good and faithful servant.'' 
Allow ma to quote one more passage, John 12:48, 
for this reason, that so many think if they live up to 
what they believe to be right, or, in other words, if 
they live up to their honest convictions, they will 
be saved. And I am here to assert that if honest 
convictions ever save at all, it is because they hap- 
pen to accord vvith the law of Jesus Christ; in which 
case it is faith and obedience after all, and not the 
individual's theories. This idea of simply according 
with some personal standard is becoming too com- 
mon. A great many seem to think that if they live 
up to the rules of the Masonic lodge, or of the Odd 
Fellows, or of the K. of P. 's, or whatever human 
society they may chance to belong to, that they are 
all right, both for this world and the next. I am 
not here to make a special fight against any of these 
organizations. I do not belong to any of them, but I 
know a great many good men who do. All lodges have 



WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 259 

good rules, I doubt not, that are helpful and whole- 
some so far as they go. But one may live up faithfully 
to all the rules and yet be lost, for they cannot carry 
the soul beyond the dark river. It is not the busi- 
ness of lodges to present Christ to the world as its 
only Saviour. Many lodge men do not even pretend 
to be believers in Christ. They set up a standard of 
their own, and imagine that if they live up to the 
self-appointed demands of conscience they will pass 
within the Pearly Gates without a question. 

But listen to this verse from the Lord of Lords 
and King of Kings: *-He that rejecteth m^e, and re- 
ceiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him; 
the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge 
him in the last day." 

When ^hall it judge him.? Not in this life, but 
"in the last day," the "great and terrible day of the 
Lord," the day when all nations shall be assembled 
together for the final examination. Then shall this 
book be opened, the book of God, not the book of 
some lodge. And then shall the record of your life 
be read by the recording angel. Oh, what a momient 
it will be! All the deeds of your life are kept on 
record, and if you die unregenerate thej^ will be 
brought to light, and presented in evidence against 
you. And this is right. If your life has not been 
clean; if you have not lived consistently; if you 
have ignored the counsels of this Divine Book, then 
you will be assigned to "outer darkness." But if your 
record is good, you will be assigned a place at God's 
right hand. 

Where, then, shall / spend Eternity .? To what 
abode will 1 be assigned after the judgment.? What 
kind of a place will be m.y everlasting habitation? 
These are questions of vital interest to us all. 

There are just two places beyond the Judgment, 



:OC vVHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 

and you and I will either go to one or the other. 
There is no half-way place, no go-between, no easy 
place on some division fence. We must "round up" 
in one place or the other. Which shall it be — God's 
Kingdom or Satan^s? 

Turn to Matthew, 25th chapter, and read from the 
31st to the 35th verses inclusive. "When the Son 
of Man shaU come in His glory, and all the holy 
angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne 
of His glory. And before Him shall be gathered all 
nations; and He shall separate them one from another, 
as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. 
And He shall set the sheep on his right hand, but 
the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto 
them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of m.y 
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from 
the foundation of the world. For I was an hungered, 
and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave 
me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; 
naked and ye clothed me; I was sick and ye visited 
me; I was in prison and ye came unto me." You 
observe there are just two places mentioned, In this 
passage one is called the Right Hand, and the other, 
the Lsft In other Scriptures one is called Heaven 
and the other Hell In Luke's noted parable one is 
referred to as Abraham's Bosom; the other as the 
Place of Torment. Now m one of these places — in 
outer darkness or ia glorious light — you and I will 
spend Eternity Ob, which will it be? 

Now torn to the i6ch chapter of the Book of Luke 
and read the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus: 
^' There was a certain rich man which was clothed 
in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every 
day And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus 
which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring 
to be ted With the crumbs vvhich fell from the rich 



WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 261 

man s table; moreover, the dogs came and licked his 
sores. And it came to pass that the beggar died, 
and was carried by the angels into Abrahani's bosom. 
The rich man also died and was buried; and in hell 
he lifted up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth 
Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And 
he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on 
me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his 
finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am tor- 
mented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, 
remember that thou in thy lifetim.e receivedst thy 
good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things, but 
now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And 
besides all this, between us and you there is a great 
gulf fixed, so that they that would pass from hence 
to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that 
w^ould come from thence.^' 

You see from this parable (if it is a parable — some 
think the events described actually occurred — for 
the narrative states emphatically that "there was 
a certain rich man.'' Be this as it may, the lesson 
intended is the same, for a parable is simply a great 
truth in figure, and if the circumstances depicted 
here are figurative, may God deliver you and me 
from the reallj that the poor man, neglected and 
despised, died at the gate of plenty. The rich man 
also died surfeited with attentions. Both went 
straight to their rightful places. The rich man 
entered the fiery depths of hell, while the poor man 
entered the brilliant portals of a glorious life. The 
one lived wickedly, the other righteously. 

And so it is in the present age. A rich man dies 
and the newspapers present a full account of his 
sickness and the last scenes around his death-bed. 
They tell Vv^here he was born, and where his father 
and grandfather were born, and what illustrious 



262 WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 

things they have all done, running the family history 
back to the Revolution or the Mayflower. They 
eulogize him for what he has done for his country, 
for the business world, and for politics, and then 
conclude by saying that although the deceased was 
not a member of any church he was a good man, 
gentle in his family, true to his neighbors, and a friend 
of the poor. When I read such eulogies on men who 
have piled up their tens of thousands by grinding 
down the poor, as is often the case, I feel like shout- 
ing as loud as I can, bosh! There is entirely too 
much of this blue-stocking, gold- wash business in 
the world to-day. 

The poor man dies, and the notice of his death is 
printed in one corner of the newspaper among the 
advertisements. This is a very different obit- 
uary from the one contributed to the man w^hose 
wrong and perhaps previous ill-treatment caused the 
poor man's death. A whole column is devoted to 
the rich man's memory. See the big head lines: 

"gone to his long rest," 

"one of our most distinguished citizens." 

"the city will miss his eminent services." 

The truth maybe that he died of apoplexy brought 
on by strong drink. But no matter, he was inch. 
So they boast of his so-called charities, his unselfish 
career, and spotless record, when perhaps his private 
life has been that of a glutton and a libertine. They 
note the large number of carriages at his funeral, and 
the vast expense of his casket. They describe the 
location of his tomb, the fragrance of the many 
banks of flowers contributed by admiring friends, 
and the subtle influence of the band's exquisite dirges. 

That's the way they bade farewell to Dives, I im- 



WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 263 

agine; while away down among cheap locals ap- 
peared this other notice: "Lazarus, a famiUar old 
pauper, who has been sick five or six years, died this 
morning at 7 o'clock. The remains were deposited 
in a rough box and taken out to the Potter's field in 
the patrol wagon." 

But what did the angels think? I think they looked 
upon all these shams very differently from the way 
the thoughtless world looks at such things to-day. 
The angels come sweeping down through space, and 
with gentle hands they picked up the poor frail body 
of Lazarus, and with one touch of their magnetic 
fingers made it immortal. 

Lazarus had doubtless been sick a long time. 
What little money he had saved up fora"rainy day," 
he had been compelled to spend in the payment of 
doctors' bills. When his money gave out their ser- 
vices ceased. At last his flesh was covered with 
sores, and the dogs of the street came and licked 
them! This is Luke's startling description, — a piece 
of literary realism hardly excelled in any language. 
But the poor, sick, hungry fellow was taken by the 
angels to Abraham's bosom, and there he found 
health and rest and joy eternal. 

Not so with Dives. Although in this life he had 
never known want, he went down to a place of awful 
torment. Why.? Because he had ever relied upon 
the things of this earth to save him, and not upon 
God. He bad been so well satisfied with himself 
that he had given no thought to religion. He had 
been so absorbed, wrapped up in the present, that 
he grossly neglected preparation for the future. 
And thus it is with millions to-day. 

Skeptics would like very much to overthrow 
the force of this parable, but they cannot do it. 
It is childish to say that God does not mean it, 



264 WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 

and there is no hell. Take out this parable with 
its picture of hell and you may just as well take out 
faith with all its splendid pictures of heaven, for 
the same God who indited the 13th chapter of I. 
Corinthians also indited the i6th chapter of Luke_ 
\vith this remarkable parable. If there is no hell, 
then there is no heaven. The logic of the con- 
clusion is inexorable. 

The writer tells us that this rich man went to the 
place of torment, and ^4n hell he lifted up his eyes, 
and seeing Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his 
bosom, cried, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, 
and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his 
finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tor- 
mented in this flame.'' 

But Abraham replied in substance, "Oh, no, I 
can't send Lazarus. It would not be consistent, for 
when you were upon the earth you had your good 
things; you had your elegant mansion; you had 
your carriages and coachmen; you had beautiful 
music; you had banquets fit for a king every day; 
you had beer delivered regularly at your back door; 
you had wine parties and balls; you v>rent to the 
theater three or four times every week; you often 
passed right by the church door on prayer-meeting 
evenings, coldly remarking that ^that sort of thing 
was good enough for women and children, but too 
tame for strong-minded men;' in short, my son, 
you lived for self only, while all this time there lay 
this poor man begging at your gate for the necessary 
crumbs to keep soul and body together. You knew 
him to be a good man; you remembered how you 
and he were boys together; you knew that he was 
just and honest and that he lived a pure life all 
through his afflictions; and yet in your ill-gotten 
wealth you had no conscience on his behalf. You 



WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 265 

had what the world calls good things while Lazarus 
had evil things; but now the tables are turned and 
you must submit to evil things because you deserve 
them, while Lazarus shall forever enjoy good things, 
because his faithful life has merited a glorious re- 
ward," 

Seeing that the matter was irrevocably settled, 
Dives said, "I pray Thee then, Father, that thou 
wouldst send him to my father's house; for I have 
five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest 
they also come into this place of torment.'' 

But Abraham said, "They have Moses and the 
prophets; let them hear them." But Dives persisted, 
"Nay, Father Abraham, but if one went unto them 
from the dead they will repent." 

But Abraham closed the interview by saying, "If 
they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will 
they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." 

And it is just so to-day. I surmise that if a man 
should arise from his grave in one of your beautiful 
cemeteries — some man vv^hom you all knew very well 
-—and say in sepulchral tones loud enough for the 
whole city to hear, "Get ready for the judgment! 
I have been there and found it to be a reality. 
I beg you to quit your meanness and prepare to meet 
God! I implore you to stop speculating on that 
mj'serable Board of Trade; to stop lying to make 
money; to stop your drinking and swearing and 
dissipating, for the Day of Final Reckoning is at 
hand!" seme few would stop and chat with him 
seriously; others would laugh at the white thing, and 
the papers would have a picture of the man taken 
in his grave-clothes, with a two-column write-up 
couched in startling but jocular rhetoric. A few su- 
perstitious persons might possibly give up their 
meanness for a while, but not many. So powerful 



266 WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 

is the devirs influence, that should a whole ceme- 
tery full of people rise from the grave at once and 
run hither and thither, everywhere crying, *^ Prepare 
to meet thy God!" the world would continue just 
about as wicked. 

Thus Abraham was exceedingly wise in his final 
reply. "And besides,'^ he said, "there is a great 
gulf fixed between Lazarus and you, and neither can 
cross over to the other." 

What does this mean? It means that there is just 
two places beyond this life. There is no go-between 
place. When you pass the Judgment Bar of God it 
is all over with you. If you have wasted this life 
in sin you are lost forever, and that's the end of 
it. Thei^e is no second probation. The Catholics 
claim that there is a "purgatory," and that you 
can pay money to the priest, and he can pray yaur 
departed friends out, and get them into Glory at last. 
But the Catholic idea of purgatory is not taught 
in the Word of God, and likewise the Protestant 
idea of a second probation is utterly foreign to the 
Scriptures. There is not a single passage in the 
Bible which can be consistently used in proof of 
either of these theories. 

On the other hand the parable of Dives and Laz- 
arus, if people will be honest with themselves, and 
honest with the Book of God, cannot fail to con- 
vince the thoughtful that there is no chance beyond 
the Judgment. Our future is practically determined 
here. If we live right we will go to the place God 
has prepared for us. If we don't live right, we will 
be assigned a place in Satan's dominions among all 
those who, like ourselves, have ignored the call of 
Heaven. If you think it won't make any difference 
how you live anyhow, and that when you die that 
will be the end of it, you will find out differently, to 
your everlasting sorrow. 



WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY I* 267 

It don't make any difference Vv'hat our circum- 
stances are in this life, there is a place where we 
will all meet on the same level. I suppose people 
who live in palaces on the Lake Front boulevards 
would hardly notice a poor v/a?her-vv'cman on Labor 
Avenue. Even if she were in bitter trouble they 
would pass by on the other side. Here the extremely 
rich and the extremely poor seldom neighbor v/ith 
each other. But it makes no difference whether 
they neighbor with each other or not, the tim.e v/ill 
come when the rich man and the poor mjan, the 
educated and the ignorant, the white and the black, 
the bond and the free, will all meet on the s^me 
level, for God is no respecter of persons. I once 
baptized a black man in Kansas, whereupon scmie 
people made sneering remarks about our taking ne- 
groes into the church. There were very few colored 
people in the town, for there was a strong prejudice 
against them there. Some of our own members 
thought they w^ould not like to be baptized in the 
same water that a negro was baptized in, and sug- 
gested that the water in the baptistry should be 
changed! 

But the time is coming when the white man will 
be no better than the black man. That time is death. 
When the angel comes with his long historic scythe, 
and sweeps through a neighborhood, it miakes little 
difference what your standing in society is, or how 
large your bank account may be, or what your pre- 
tentions to a superior moral life are. No matter 
where you are or what you are, when your appointed 
time comes that scythe will cut you down like the 
rest. So it seems to me that we ought to be think- 
ing more about the hereafter. We ought to be decid- 
ing in which place we propose to spend eternity, 
Heaven or hell. In one place or the other every 



268 WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY r 

man, woman and child in this audience must spend, 
the endless cycles of eternity. 

"Where shall I spend Eternity ?'' is a far more im- 
portant question than, "Where am I going to live, 
and what business shall I follow in this life?" even 
if we should live fifty, or sixty, or three score and 
ten years. It is an awful thing to grow old without 
Christ! Show me a man who has lived four score 
years without yielding his heart to the softening and 
sweetening influences of the gospel, and I v/ill show 
you one who as a rule everybody wishes would die. 
The children are too often glad when the good old 
people die, not to mention the bad ones. 

We can only live a few years at most. Did you 
ever think how short life is.^ Even if v/e should 
live lOO years, we "v/ill spend our days as a tale 
that is told," as the Psalmist says. On the other 
hand, Eternity! How wonderful is the sweep of that 
^ord— Eternity! Where shall we spend it.^ 
^ It will make little if any difference in the end 
whether we live in London or in Chicago, in Ger- 
many or America, in city or in village. The important 
thing is, are v/e getting ready for E-T-E-R-N-I-T-Y.^ 

We only begin to live here. Over There is where 
we really Live. Oh, I would to God that I could 
impress those of you who have been putting off this 
great matter of salvation with the stupendous sig- 
nificance of the words Time and Eternity. The one 
is but a little drop in the ocean as compared with 
the other And yet many conduct themselves as if 
this life were all. Time is given us to prepare for 
Eternity. And as there are two different states 
beyond, one of joy and the other of misery, we 
should be sure that we make no mistake in our prep- 
arations. 

"But I don*t believe in the orthodox hell," says 



WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 269 

one. "I don't believe we poor sinners will be com-^ 
pelled to burn and burn forever. '' 

Well, I don't know just what and where hell is. 
I don't believe myself that it is a literal lake of fire 
and brimstone. That language in Revelation is fig- 
lir-citive. But as the figurative is always a mere 
attempt of language to describe the real, hell must be 
a place beyond description in horror. 

Some advance the idea that hell is total annihi- 
lation— destruclion — oblivion. But how much better 
Vv^ouid that be? If there is anything dear to the 
human heart, it is the instinct of life. The thought 
of being . obliterated, or cast into oblivion once and 
forever, is about as repulsive as anything else, it 
seems to me. I cannot see vv^herein it is m_uch 
more pleasant than the thought of burning in that 
figurative lake. No, I don't believe in the total an- 
nihilation theory. And yet I cannot speak very 
definitely as to the w/ia^ or the where of helL I 
don't think we will settle that question this side of 
the judgment. All we can say positively is that hell 
is banishment from the presence of God, and that's 
enough. No v/onder it is called a place of ^'outer 
darkness.'^ God is light and warmth, and love. It 
will be a sad thing for us if we have so carelessly 
lived here as to be driven from His presence at the 
last day. And not from His presence only, but from 
the presence of our loved ones. Banished from the 
Gates of Pearl! Driven away from the presence of 
Abraham and all of the redeem.ed! Driven away 
from Jesus! Driven away from the angels, and from 
the miusic of heavenly love which shall ring through 
the corridors of glory forevermore! Ah! that would 
be hell. 

Well, whatever and wherever it is, I don't want to 
go there, and I don't v/ant any of my friends to go 



270 WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 

there. But j/ou will go there, many of you, ai true 
as you are living beings to-night, if you don't turn 
about, face, and strive with all your hearts to live a 
Christian life. 

The only way to go to the other place. Heaven, is 
to believe and obey Christ. If you will come and give 
your hearts to the Lamb of God, He will take away 
your sins, and redeem you from the power of Satan. 
If we have Christ's love in our hearts and lives we can 
say, "Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where 
is thy victory?'' If we walk in the footsteps of Jesus, 
we can say, "I am not afraid of the Judgment, for I 
know that my Lord will say, ^Well done.'" The 
Christian is not afraid of death, for to die means to 
go Home. 

I would that we all had a faith as strong as Basil, 
bishop of Nes-Ceserea in 370 A. D. The Roman 
emperor, Valens, threatened to confiscate his goods. 
But the grand old saint replied in substance, "I have 
not very much; only some rags and a few books. If 
you want my goods take them, but you can't take the 
truth from me.'' 

He was then threatened with banishment and 
death. His reply v/as a noble one: "None of these 
things touch me. Banishment I know not; for, as the 
guest of God, all places are alike to me. For martyr- 
dom I am unfit, but death is a benefactor if it send 
m.e speedily to Heaven." 

Oh, why not believe and obey the Word of God 
now? Why not consecrate your life to Christ to- 
night? Why not surrender all your life, your hopes 
and your purposes to Jesus once for all, and say to 
Him, "Take me. Lord, and use me." If you will do 
this you will not be afraid to hear the deal!i angel's 
call. You will not be afraid to stand before the Judg- 
ment bar of heaven. You will not be afraid of the 
grave, for you will know that All is wpll. 



WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 27I 

"For we know that all things work together for 
good to them that love God." 

That precious promise is for Christians. It was 
never intended for those who do not give their hearts 
to the Son of God, Many persons quote it and apply 
it to themselves who have no right to do so- The 
sinner who does not try to obey the Word of God, 
and who has never committed himself to the Lord, 
has no right to that precious promise. It is not for 
those who tram^ple under foot the laws of Heaven. 
Jesus said,*' If ye love me, ye will keep my command- 
ments.'' To those only who really love God and try 
to keep His commandments is it promised that "all 
things shall work together for good." 

It may be that in serving Christ you will have to 
make many sacrifices. It may be that you will have 
to endure persecution and submit to much that is un- 
pleasant from a worldly point of view. But whether 
this Christian service is pleasant or unpleasant, we 
read that "these light afflictions, which are but for 
a moment, will v/ork out for us a far m.ore exceeding 
and eternal v/eight of glory." (2 Cor. 4:17.) 

Dear, unsaved friend, let me prevail upon you to 
make the start to-night Come on board the gospel 
ship now! Decide quickly, and lay your hand in the 
almighty hand of Jesus! Come out of the darkness 
of doubt into the light of His presence, v>4iere there is 
joy and peace and rest forevermore! Oh, turn heaven- 
ward while it is called to-day! 

Remember there are but two places beyond, — 
Heaven and hell. For which are you bound ? In one 
place or the other you will spend Eternity. Oh, v/hich ? 
Are you bound for the place where your sainted 
mother is.? and where Christ is.? and where all the 
redeemed are ? Or are you bound for the place where 
all murderers, all blasphemers, all haters of God and 
workers of evil are.? 



272 WHERE SHALL I SPEND ETERNITY? 

" Where shall I spend Eternity ?^^ Young man, de-, 
cide to-night, because, soon — very soon to some of 
us perhaps — ^will come the final summons. We will 
be called to give an account for the deeds done in the 
body. I will be com.pelled to give an account for all 
the sermons I have preached, and you will have to 
give an account for all the invitations of the Gospel 
you have neglected. Each will be rewarded accord- 
ing to his deserts. It is a solemn thought. We will 
all be compelled to give an account, not only for the 
things done, but for the things we should have done 
but left undone. Perhaps you are saying to yourself, 
"My life has not been so very bad; surely God won't 
let me be lost." But you have all along neglected 
to accept Jesus, and that is a grievous sin of omission. 
So I entreat you to-night to come to Him. Come 
and through contact with his blood be transformed 
into the image of God. 

" Where shall I spend Eternityf'^ It is a question 
that you must settle sometime. Why not settle it 
now.^ To-morrow may be too late! 

^'To-day the Saviour calls, 

For refuge y?>'/ 
The storm of vengeance falls, 
hndi death is nighP' 



DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE 
CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 

Acts 28:22 — "But we desire to hear of thee what 
thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know 
that everywhere it is spoken against.'' This is not 
my text. It used to be the text of our preachers when 
they preached on the distinguishing principles of the 
Christian Church. But now it is somewhat out of 
date, and I must look elsewhere for an appropriate 
verse of scripture. 

Fifty years ago our preachers and people were 
everywhere spoken against. Fifty years ago we were 
grateful if we could get a corn-crib or a school-house 
to preach in. Sometimes we vvere allowed to open up 
in a church building; but the doors of the various de- 
nominations were usually closed against us. But it 
is not so to-day; we are orthodox! This has been 
demonstrated to the satisfaction of everybcdy at all 
posted. A few years ago, you may remiember, there 
was a big trial over the matter in the State of Indiana, 
and our orthodoxy was proven in court! We have 
gotten out of the childish clothes of uncertainty and 
put on the habiliments of a robust manhood. To-day 
vve are increasing faster, proportionately, than any 
other church in America. This is proven by the census 
report of 1890, We are very popular now; so popular 
that our people are represented almost everywhere. 
One of our preachers sits regularly with the distin- 
guished body of men who select the International SuH'- 

S73 



274 DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

day School lessons. And at all of the great Endeavor 
conventions we have numerous representatives, for 
as Francis E. Clark says, the two movements are 
closely allied. Hence it would not be appropriate 
now to say "this body is everywhere spoken against," 
for it is not. 

But I trust I may not be regarded presumptuous in 
saying that we are the same people, doctrinally and 
practically, that were spoken against eighteen hun- 
dred years ago. It will therefore, doubtless, be in- 
teresting to strangers to know something about the 
distinguishing principles of this church. 

In a political campaign it is interesting to know the 
distinguishing principles of the different political plat- 
forms, and what they propose to do. So in religious 
bodies it is interesting to know the whats, the whys, 
and wherefores they have to offer. Just now there is 
a great deal of talk in the press about Dr. Teed and 
his angels. Everybody wants to know where they 
are going to live and what they are going to do. And 
over at Rockford there is much talk of the same nature 
about Schweinfurth and his deluded followers. We 
Americans do not care so much for what a man pre- 
tends to be as for what he is. Not what is a man's 
theory, but what is he doing? That is the idea with 
most people now, and I am glad of it. 

Now this church has recently removed into a great 
hall and the eyes of strangers are upon you as never 
before. Questions will naturally arise, "Who are 
these people.?" "Where are they from.?" "What 
have they done.?" "What do they propose to do.?" 
"What are the distinguishing features of their plea.?" 
I am here to-night to answer these questions, briefly, 
but I trust concisely and plainly. 

jude 3: — "Beloved, when I gave all diligence to 
write unto you of the common salvation, it was need- 



DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 275 

ful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that you 
should earnestly contend for'^— Calvinism? Is that 
it? No, sir! "Exhort you' that you should earnestly 
contend for'' — Arminianism? Is that it? No, sir! 
Then what? The masses don't know anything about 
Calvinism, i^rminianism, and the various other isms 
of the theological v/orld. And what is more, they 
don't care anything about them either. The average 
person knows very little about Tertullian, Augustine, 
Melanchthon, Zwingle, Chrysostom,or any of the old 
church fathers. Theological students may enjoy 
studying about these things, but the masses prefer the 
bread of life. So what does the text say? Notice: 
"that you should earnestly contend for the faith once 
delivered unto the saints." 

Not to contend earnestly for any creed devised of 
men ; not to contend earnestly for any articles of faith 
framed by any religious council on earth; but to 
contend earnestly for the faith once delivered by in- 
spired men chosen of God. How infinitely superior 
is this work to that of quarreling over the specula- 
tions and traditions of selfish men! 

I want to suggest right heie that the principal 
reason why we are separated from other religious 
peoples, and compelled to stand in a class by ourselves, 
is that we insist on carrying out this injunction to the 
letter! We insist on preaching the same gospel that 
Peter preached to the Jews eighteen hundred years 
ago, when they cried out, "Men and brethren, what 
shall we do?" The apostle Peter told them what to 
do in language as clear as a sunbeam, and we are here 
to urge people to do that same thing now. Thus we 
are doctrinally and practically like the ancient dis- 
ciples. We are striving to please God rather than 
man; and to present the Gospel in its simplicity and 
purity, with charity towards all, and malice towards 
none. 



276 DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

In many respects,! am glad to say, we are just like 
other religious bodies. In very many of the more 
important particulars we agree with all the evangelical 
denominations. For instance, on the subject of 
faith. Now all other evangelical bodies believe in 
faith, believe in its necessity, power, and efficacy; so 
do we. 

All orthodox religious bodies believe in repentance, 
believe that no one can be saved without repentance; 
so do we, Vv^e constantly hold that it is utterly im- 
possible to enter Heaven without repentance tovv^ard 
God in the name of Christ. 

Others believe in the importance of prayer; so do 
we. 

Others believe in holy living; so do we. 

Others believe in keeping the Lord's Day holy (they 
call it the Sabbath; we don't); so do we. 

Others believe in godliness, holiness, sanctification; 
so do we, Scripturally; but we don't believe in some 
of the crack-brained theories on these subjects ad- 
vocated by some of our religious neighbors. For in- 
stance, the chimerical notions of faith cure which are 
agitating so many people. We don't believe that 
God is going to work a miracle to-day on our in- 
dividual behalf. This is not faith but ignorant pre- 
sumption. The people v/ho compose the Christian 
Church do not believe that God is going to cure a 
man of rheumatism, or anything else, unless he him- 
self puts his body in a condition to recover, and ob- 
serves the laws of nature. Many religious fanatics 
are running wild with faith healing theories nowa- 
days,but there is one church that don't believe in set- 
ting aside God's Word for the shallow deductions cf 
Christian Science, falsely so-called, for Joseph Cook 
was right when he said that this new fad was neither 
Christian nor science. 



DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 277. 

No, the Christian Church don't believe in these off- 
shoot theories of the sectarian churches. But in 
nearly all the essential doctrines we agree with them. 
I rejoice to say that on the great subject of temper- 
ance we can cla?.p hands with the foremost. And 
when it comes to infidelity it is enough to call your 
attention to the fact that for a half century nearly 
three-fourths of the discussions held with representa- 
tives of so-called free thought have been successfully 
conducted by our people. We believe with all evan- 
gehcal churches in God the Father, in Christ the Son, 
and in the Holy Spirit, the Comforter promise] by 
our Lord and Master. We believe in world-vv^ide 
evangelization, and, in short, in everything authorized 
by the Word of Truth. 

And still there are some very important differences 
between us and other religious bodies; and hence the 
subject for consideration in this %q^x\\\ow, distinguishing 
principles. 

Before I proceed further perhaps I should give 
some definitions. What is to be understood by the 
term "Christian Church.?'^ Some understand us to 
refer in its usage to a particular religious body that 
was brought into existence by Alexander Campbell and 
his coadjutors. We have been called "Carhpbeliites." 
But truthfully speaking, Alexander Campbell had 
nothing whatever to do with the founding of the 
Christian Church; he simply advocated a return of 
all God's wandering people to the original founda- 
tion. He pleaded for a return to apostolic, New Testa- 
ment Christianity; for the throwing aside forever of 
all the creeds and doctrines of men. He urged the 
followers of Christ everywhere to take the Bible and 
the Bible alone as their rule of faith and practice. He 
argued that no one should be asked to do more nor 
less than the Bible requires. A favorite motto of our 



i 



278 DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH J' 

people has ever been, "Where the Bible speaks we i. 
speak; where the Bible is silent we are silent. *' This | 
position shuts out all human names. Hence we call t 
ourselves the "Christian Church;" or as som.e prefer, I 
the "Church of Christ,'' v/hich means identically the • 
same thing. Not PauTs Church, nor Wesley's Church, I 
nor Campbell's Church, but Christ's Church, The 
terms Church of God, and Church of the First Born 
are also Scriptural, and refer to the same body of peo- 
ple. You may have noticed that I never speak of 
our people as a "denom.ination. " The Church of Christ 
is not denominational, and we should never say, as our 
neighbors always do, "our denomination." When 
applying to the railroads for a clerical permit, they 
usually give me a blank calling for the name cf my 
"denomination." I always cross out the unsanctified 
word, and put in "Christian Church." No; God's 
Church was never a denomination, and it never will 
be. Our people should remain undenominational and 
unsectarian, for this is the will of the Great Head of 
the Church. Our plea along these lines has resulted 
in the greatest union movement in the nineteenth 
century, and we should be careful ever to keep the dis- 
tinctive tenets of our belief constantly in view. 

We have at the present time about one million 
members, largely in the central and western states of 
the Union, In Indiana we have about ico,coo In 
the state of Illinois, yo.ooo. In Missouri, 130,000. 
We have churches in Boston, New York, London, 
Toronto, and other great cities. In New Zealand we 
have numerous churches, one of which num.bers far 
into the hundreds in membership. We are beginning 
to spread out. In Melbourne, Australia, we have 
more than twenty churches. In Kansas City, ten; in 
Louisville, a dozen; in Cleveland, fifteen. We have 
6,000 clergymen, and 9,000 congregations. We have 



DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 279 

several great colleges and numerous religious papers. 
In short, in all that goes to make a great religious 
people, we stand among the most aggressive and wide- 
awake religious bodies of the world. 

Well, in what respect do we differ, from our re- 
Hgious neighbors? 

First of all,\n our teaching regarding Christ. "But," 
you say, "I thought all orthodox bodies taught faith 
in Christ as an essential doctrine." Certainly they 
do, but we teach faith in Christ as the essential. All 
evangelical churches make faith in Christ simply one 
among other items of creed; but we make Christ the 
one all-comprehensive article of faith. When a per- 
son presents himself for reception into the Kingdom 
of Christ at our hands, we do not propound to him a 
multitude of questions, such as for instance^ "Do you 
believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?" and, "Do 
you believe that these three are one?" and, "Do you 
believe that Christ died^to reconcile the Father to the 
world?" (A creed-thought which is in direct opposi- 
tion to the Word of God.) But we ask, "Do you be- 
lieve with all your heart that Jesus is the Christ, the 
Son of God?" And if the candidate says, "Yes, I 
do," that settles it. There is just one article in our 
Confession of Faith, and that is the Divinity of Christ. 
What more is necessary? If we really believe in Christ 
we easily accept all the rest that His religion de- 
mands. Can you mention any other religious body 
that receives a candidate for baptism on this one ad- 
mission? It is a very simple way, 'tis true; but it is 
God's way, and why should we ask more? It exalts 
the Saviour to his rightful position as the only begot- 
ten and hence divine Son of God, and nothing less 
than this can suffice. 

/;/ the second place, we differ from our religious 
neighbors with reference to the various divisions of 



28o DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

the Bible and their respective authority over present 
generations. We teach that the Old Testament was 
intended more especially for the Children of Israel, 
and the New Testament for Christians. Moses wrote 
the first five books of the accepted canon especially for 
the descendants of Abraham and Jacob. The Mosaic 
Law was never intended to become universal. Every 
one of the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament 
clusters about the Children of Israel primarily, and 
secondarily the coming of Christ and his kingdom. 
The Ten Commandments and the ceremonial laws of 
Leviticus were written especially for the TwelveTribes 
of Israel, and were intended as a school-master to bring 
the world to Christ. (See Gal. 3:24.) But the Gospel 
takes in the whole world in its majestic sweep, Jews 
and Gentiles alike. We hold that no one can success- 
fully and acceptably preach the gospel until he rightly 
divides and applies the Word of Truth. When a 
candidate comes to confess Christ, we do not go over 
into Leviticus and teach him the Law of Moses as 
binding upon him. The apostle Paul, referring to 
this, says in the second chapter of Colossians, that 
Christ took this old law out of the way, "nailing it 
to the cross.'' We have the essence of all the Ten 
Commandments in the New Testament and much 
more, but the fourth commandment as such was 
never engrafted in the Law of Christ. Christians 
are nowhere commanded to "remember tlie Sabbath 
Day to keep it holy.'' The Sabbath was an Israelitish 
institution only. We are taught by apostolic example 
to remember the Lord's Day, the first day of the 
week, not the seventh. This is the day upon which 
our blessed Master arose from the grave and it is fit- 
ting that we should make it a day of special service 
to God. 
So we divide tb^ Bibk niQVQ consistently than any 



DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 281 

Other religious people in the world. We make it a 
specialty, and it is one of our strongest points. We 
insist that the laws of the Old Testament are not bind- 
ing upon Christians; and yet we do not discard the 
Old Testament, as our enemies have sometimes 
averred. Isaac Errett, one of the leading lights in 
the councils of our people, declared that no disciple 
of Jesus could attain a full and proper development 
in Christ until he familiarized himself thoroughly 
with the Old Testament Scriptures. No, the time 
will never come when we can discard the great works 
of Moses, David, and the judges and prophets of Israel. 
And yet we should not apply their writings to this 
day and age. This is, however, a common and in- 
excusable blunder. Why, even Mr. Moody, whose 
name is precious to many thousands, once preached 
a sermon in this city on that most important of all 
subjects for the consideration of dying souls, ^^What 
shall I do to be saved.'*'' He took his text from the 
Old Testament and preached his sermon from first to 
last without once quoting from the New Testament. 
What must the angels have thought to behold so 
noted a man declaring as binding to-day texts which 
were written for another age and people, and which 
were v/ashed away by the blood of Christ nearly 1900 
years ago! 

I think this is one of the most noble things about 
the Christian Church, that we rightly divide the Word 
of God. You remember that Paul wrote to Timothy, 
"Study to show thyself approved unto God, a work- 
man that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing 
the Word of Truth.'' And in the literal observance of 
this commandment we are eminently distinguished 
from other religious peoples. 

Third'. We are distinguished from other religious 
bodies in our teaching regarding the operation of the 



282 DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

Holy Spirit. You know that almost all orthodox 
bodies believe in the miraculous operation of the 
Holy Spirit in conversion. We do not. It is non- 
sense. If the Holy Spirit ever operates independently 
of the Word of Truth, why does He not convert the 
poor heathens who have never heard the gospel ? In 
proof of His miracle-working proclivities, not to say 
eccentricities, our friends quote that often-abused 
passage in John's narrative/' The wind bloweth where 
it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but 
canst not tell whence it cometh,and whither it goeth; 
so is every one that is born of the Spirit. '^ But if He 
operates independent of the preached Word, why does 
He blow on people in enlightened Am.erica, and not 
blow on the deluded Hottentot? We have often read 
that "God is no respecter of persons.'^ But if the 
prevailing notion as to the operation of the Spirit is 
true, God is a respecter of persons. 

The truth in the matter is that the Holy Spirit has 
never converted a man, from the beginning of time 
to the present day, independent of the Word of God 
and human agency. We believe that God has chosen 
us, his disciples, to c^rry His Word to the lost, and 
if we are faithful in this service the Holy Spirit will 
always accompany with power. You recall the last 
words of Jesus, "Go ye therefore, and teach all 
nations." He has laid upon us this great and press- 
ing responsibility, and we should not shirk duty by 
attributing a work to the Holy Spirit never intended 
or promised. Rest assured that the Holy Spirit has 
never operated in one single instance independent of 
the Word of God, and He never v^ill. In His wonderful 
prayer on the night of His betrayal, Jesus said, 
"Father,sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy Word 
is truth." (John 17:17.) We believe that the Holy 
Spirit came into the world as a Comforter of Christians, 



DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 283 

and as John records, "to convict of sin, and of right- 
eousness, and of judgment to come." In conjunction 
with the Lord, and consecrated Christian hearts, no 
power can withstand His mighty work. But since the 
days of the Twelve and Cornelius, His efforts have 
been natural as distinguished from supernatural. This 
view of an important question removes a great deal 
of doubt, and consequently the Christian Church con- 
verts m.ore skeptics proportionally than any other re- 
ligious body. 

You have often heard the question asked at revival 
meetings,"Didyouget it.?'' or "Did you get through.?" 
Get what.? Get through what.? I suppose they mean 
religion, as if it were something to be gotten mirac- 
ulously. Many preachers talk as if it were something 
very mysterious, and convey the idea that in seeking 
for it maybe you will get it, and maybe not. You 
have doubtless heard testimonies hke the following: "I 
was a long time getting through. I went to the altar 
night after night without relief. I lost much sleep, 
and my appetite failed. But at last a great light 
suddenly shone upon my soul." An Iowa man told 
me how he tried to get it for thirteen nights. But 
he failed to ekperience that miraculous change he had 
been taught to expect, and so he just quit trying and 
lapsed into skepticism. And at one place where I 
was laboring a gentleman gave me an account of his 
experience at the altar. He felt no change and was 
frank enough to say so. But the preacher urged him 
to stand up and say that he felt differently anyhow, 
assuring the earnest seeker that he v/as "too honest 
with himself." That gentleman almost lost all faith in 
religion, but he is a member of the Christian Church 
now, and rejoices in the simplicity and consistency of 
our teachings. I am confident that a very large per- 
centage of our modern atheists are m.ade by this mis- 



2b4 DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

erabie, unscnptural, dangerous theory; — the offspring 
of a deformed theology, that men can't be saved with- 
out a special miracle. 

There is no miracle in conversion. There are 
some mysterious things about it of course, as there are 
about every subject under Heaven. There are mys- 
teries connected with the growing of grass, the bud- 
ding of trees, and the creation of human species, for 
instance, which the greatest scientists of history have 
never yet penetrated. And yet we speak of these 
things as natural processes, and accept the feet with- 
out a doubt or murmur. So conversion is a natural 
process, and it is easy for every citizen of this or any 
other enlightened land to learn every step in con- 
version. No, there is nothing miraculous about it. And 
in this belief we are distinguished from all the great 
orthodox bodies. It is a point mightily in our favor 
too, and one that we cannot make stand out too 
clearly. It would be far easier to turn the masses to 
Christ if this old notion that God is going to work 
special miracles to save men could be gotten cut of the 
way. When every man is made to realize that his 
salvation depends largely on his ow^n efforts, he will 
go to work in earnest for his soul. But many are 
waiting to-day for God to convert them by some 
wonderful, miraculous demonstration, when they 
ought to be "working out their own salvation with 
fear and trembling." Don't wait for God to work it 
out for you, but, as Peter said on Pentecost, arise 
obediently and "save yourselves from this untoward 
generation." When we get this false theory out of the 
heads of the people, and they can be made to 
understand that the Holy Spirit does not operate 
independently, but always through the Word, and 
through human agency, it will be a long step 
towards the salvation of many millions now groping 
in darkness and uncertainty. 



DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 285 

Fourth: We are distinguished irom most ortliodox 
peoples in our views regarding the design or baptism 
Not the action of baptism, please notice; but the 
design. There are millions who believe just as we do 
concerning the meaning of the word "baptism.'' In 
this country there are perhaps three million Baptists 
alone, not to mention tens of thousands in other 
bodies, who believe in immersion as the only Scrip 
tural way to baptize people. And over in the old 
country there are ninety millions in the Greek Church. 
The Greeks ought to know what the New Testament 
Greek word baptizo means. And it is significant that 
they never spiiakla or pour. Hence I say we are not 
to be distinguished from other religious bodies with 
regard to our views concerning the action of baptism; 
but we are when it comes to a consideration of the 
design of baptism. We believe that baptism is for, 
or in order to, the remission of sins. It is at baptism, 
as the crowning act of conversion, that the honest be- 
liever looks for forgiveness and peace> He has no 
right to expect the fruition of his hopes and prayers 
before. 

'*Are your people not like the Baptists in this re- 
spect?" says one. No; there is a wide difference. 
Baptists do not consider baptism an essential of sal- 
vation, but merely a church ordinance or Christian 
act. Dr. McArthur of New York, one of the most 
noted Baptist divines in this country, in a recently 
published sermon proves to the satisfaction of every 
honest thinker that immersion is the only Scriptural 
form of baptism. "And yet," he concludes, "the 
Baptist Church lets more people die unbaptized than 
any other body, for it does not believe the act essen- 
tial to salvation." But w^e believe Vv^hat the apostle 
Peter said in Acts 2:38, "Repent and be baptized 
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the 



286 DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

remission of sins, '^'^ It is a divinely appointed step in 
the desired direction; it is something to be attended 
to before forgiveness can be experienced; it is the 
crowning act of conversion; it is, practically, the door 
into the joys of conversion and into the folds of the 
Church. Jesus taught the essentiaHty of baptism in 
order to salvation; and all through the history of the 
early Church immersion was universally practiced as 
the only Scriptural, normal form. 

These conclusions are so logical and plain that 
it would seem that the whole religious world could 
not but be a unit on the subject. But human specula- 
tion, doubtless prompted by Satan, says,"It is a mere 
outward sign of an inward grace,'' and should not 
be regarded as more than "a mere church ordinance." 
So long as the second chapter of Acts remains, how- 
ever, so long will the position of the Christian Church " 
on this subject be invulnerable. And it is a matter 
of great m.oment,for a faithful observance of the com- 
mand of baptism in its proper place in the scheme 
of redemption would speedily dispense forever wqth 
the mourner's bench and all similar abnormal systems 
of so-called ''getting religion." The result would be 
ten genuine conversions where there is one to-day. 

Fifth: We are to be distinguished from others in 
our views regarding the name question. We believe 
that God's people and God's Church should wear only 
Scriptural names. "Bible names for Bible things," 
has long been one of our watch-crys. And with 
William Chillingworth we believe that "the Bible 
and the Bible alone is the religion of Protestants." 
We do not believe in using the "language of Ashdod;" 
so we discard all human appellations. In this we 
stand almost alone in the religious world to-day. 
There are a few lesser bodies, I believe, w^ho claim 
to discard human names. For instance, I recall a 



DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 287 

small body of people calling themselves "Christians," 
but nicknamed "New Lights/' And another calling 
themselves the "Church of God/' but nicknamed 
" Winebrennerians." But of all the larger orthodox 
bodies, we are the only church that insists on being 
strictly Scriptural in name. We honestly believe that 
it is wrong for Christians to adopt human names like 
Methodist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, etc. 

Somebody suggests that old saw that "there is 
nothing in a name anyhow/' and that "a rose by any 
other name will smell as sweet." Well, let us see. 
Suppose I call you Humbug. We meet at a party, 
and I say, "How do you do, Mr. Humbug?" You 
would certainly take offense, and would not listen to 
me when I plead, "Oh, there's nothing in a name." 
Suppose I should call every church on Western 
Avenue, churches of Satan; what would you think? 
If I should speak of this church as the First Church 
of Satan, and yonder Methodist church as the Second 
Church of Satan, and all the members as Satanites. 
You would be justly incensed. And yet many have 
been saying, "Oh, there is nothing in a name. The 
people are just as good by one name as another, and 
it makes no difference what you call us." But this 
is all foolishness, and I have grown weary of hearing 
thoughtless people say, "There is nothing in a name." 
Why, there is everything in a name in one sense. 
"They shall call his 7iame Jesus,^^ Why? Because 
he shall save His people from their sins. What does 
"Jesus" mean? Saviou7\ The v^^hole sum and sub- 
stance of the Christian life is wrapped up in the ;/^;;^^ 
Jesus. "There is no other ?tame under heaven given 
among men whereby we must be saved," said Peter. 
(Acts 4:12.) And again, in Luke 24 147, we are told 
that "repentance and remission of sins should be 
preached in His name among all nations, beginning at 



288 DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

Jerusalem." And the Great Commission instructs us 
to baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost. Take your concordance and look through 
the New Testament. It will surprise you to find how 
many times the expression "in His name" occurs. As 
there is no promise of salvation outside of the name 
of Jesus, the name question is one of tremendous im- 
port. 

Turn to the first chapter of I. Corinthians, and 
read the apostolic rebuke there recorded for our in- 
struction. Some of the disciples in that day said, "I 
am of Paul." Others said, "I am of Apollos." And 
others still, "I am of Cephas." But Paul taught them 
all to say, "I am of Christ." He says, "Is Christ 
divided.^ was Paul crucified for you? or were ye 
baptized in the name of Paul?" 

No, we were baptized in the name of Christ, and 
when we wear^a name of human invention, or the 
name of any man, we dishonor Christ and impede the 
progress of His church. 

The Church is called "the bride." What would 
you think of a bride who wore some other name than 
that of her husband? Here is Mrs. Hall, for instance; 
we have been married a number of years. Now sup- 
pose she should get a peculiar notion in her head, 
and say some day, "George, I believe I will go by the 
name of Mrs. Brown hereafter." 

I would naturally be astonished and exclaim, 
"Why?" 

"Oh, because I think I should like the name better 
than Hall." 

"But," I would say, "I would rather you wouldn't. 
Our marriage certificate is made out in my name, and 
ourtvv^o little boys were born in the same." 

"But," she replies, "of course I will love you just 
as well as ever, George, and I will be just as good a 



DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 289 

wife as I have ever been ; and as there is no difference 
in a name a^iyhow, I prefer henceforth to be calied 
Mrs. Brown. I have some very dear friends wearing 
that name, and I think it very nice. Of course I am 
really Mrs. Hall, but from now on you will please 
address me as Mrs. Brown/' 

Would not that be a pretty way for my good wife 
to do.? Would it not be treating me unkindly, not 
to say dishonestly.? Very well: Christ is the bride- 
groom; the Church is the bride; and we dishonor Him 
when we wear any other name save our Lord's. If I 
should live a thousand years, I would never, God help- 
ing me, consent to wear any other name, even for a 
short time, than that of Christ. 

We therefore teach that the Church should be called 
"The Church of Christ, '^ or ^* Christian Church,'* or 
"Church of God," or "Church of the First Born," as 
all these names are Scriptural, and they honor Christ. 
But all human names dishonor Christ, as the principle 
is contrary to all reason and justice. Alexander 
Campbell was not cruelly murdered for us; John 
Wesley was not crucified for us; Martin Luther did 
not die for us. These were all grand, good men, and 
each name is worthy of admiration, but not of the 
reverence which belongs only to Christ. 

Martin Luther tried to reform the Catholic Church; 
the Wesleys attempted a similar work with the 
Episcopalian; Alexander Carnpbell pleaded for a re- 
turn to the apostolic order of things.- They all did 
the world a great service, but they did not die for 
us. Nor did one of them want their followers to 
wear their humble names. It was the farthest 
thought from their noble minds. And I think the 
best way to honor Campbell, or Wesley, or Luther, 
or any other great reformer, is to simply follov/ Christ 
in name, belief, and practice. This course will honor 



290 DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

their memories more than by wearing some human 
title. Luther himself once wrote, "Call not your- 
selves Lutherans^ but Christians.'^ And Wesley 
said, "I would that party names and party deeds 
were forgotten, and that all would sit at the feet of 
Jesus." 

Oh, never wear any name save the name of Christ! 
If to-night you are wearing some human name as a 
sign of religious inclination or devotion, I implore 
you to discard it, and wear it no more. I am not 
here to say a single unjust word against any church 
or church member in the world. I would not have 
one single less Methodist or Presbyterian so far as 
individuals are concerned; but if I could I would 
have them all cease to be called Methodists and 
Presbyterians, for all these human names for God's 
people engender and perpetuate strife and division. 
Yes, I would have them all throw away their human 
names and be called simply christians, no more and 
no less. This would please our Heavenly Father. 
And if there were only one name for the One Divine 
Church, we could do more for Christ in forty-eight 
hours than we are now doing in that m.any months 
in our divided and warring state. 

Sixth: We are distinguished from other orthodox 
bodies in our teaching on the creed-question. Now 
we have a creed. Did you ever hear anybody say 
we did not.'^ Oh, yes. But we have a Creed! I 
don't like to hear anybody say that the Christian 
Church has no creed. That is a loose statement and 
our preachers and members should be careful never 
to make it. We have the best Creed in all the uni- 
verse. No church could exist without a creed. 
Creed comes from the Latin word credo^ and means / 
believe. How could we exist without some belief.? 
What then is our belief, or creed? 



DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 29I 

Is it wrapped in thirty-nine, or thirty-three, or 
twenty-live articles of faith? No. In that sense 
we have no creed, never did have, and never expect 
to have. We have no Confession of Faith prepared 
by some of our prominent members and made bind- 
ing upon the church, as other communions have. We 
don't believe in the old iron-bedstead system of 
regulating men's consciences by the invention of creeds 
— if one is too short, stretch him out; and if he is too 
long, cut him off! No, present generations are too 
intelligent for that. The day is rapidly passing when 
only doctors of divinity will be permitted to do all the 
prescribing of medicine for the sick souls of dying 
men. Creeds are too imperfect and narrow. The 
world demands something more universal in its 
sweep than any creed of man's devisement can 
possibly be. Some creeds have proven helpful for 
one generation, but hurtful for another. The 
race is advancing all the time, and it is impossible 
for some of the old, unscriptural dogmas of the va- 
rious churches to stand much longer. The old Cal- 
vinistic idea of infant damnation, for instance, will 
soon have to go forever. It is repulsive to the 
world's better thought. Then pretty soon some- 
thing else, which a more enlightened generation shall 
prove equally absurd, will have to go; and so on, till 
only that which is divine will remain. Thank God, 
the Christian Church has a Creed which will never 
need revision. It has not needed revision during a 
trial of eighteen hundred years, and we therefore feel 
safe in predicting for our Creed an unparalleled 
future. 

What is our Creed? Some one suggests, "The 
Bible." Correctly speaking, no. Our belief is cen- 
tered, not simply in book or paper; not simply in 
spoken or written word; not simply in the Gospel 



292 DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

story, sweet and wonderful as it is. But our Creed 
is Jesus the Christ and him crucified. We accept 
only a personal, living, loving, abiding Creed! 

Christ said, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock 
I will build my church." What rock? Christ, 

Oh, Master, we believe in Thee! We believe in 
Thee, Jesus, Thou Son of Mary! We believe in Thee, 
dear Lord, and acknowledge Thee as the only be- 
gotten Son of God. We believe in Thee as the fulfill- 
ment of prophecy — as the long promised Messiah, 
and we know that whatsoever Thou hast said and 
done is good and right and abiding! 

Yes, our Creed is Jesus,— a personal, living, loving, 
unchanging Creed. We endeavor to believe in Him 
practically too, so that what He tells us to do,w^e do; 
and where He tells us to go, v/e go; and where He 
tells us to stay, we stay. We remember that He said, 
"If ye love me keep my commandments/' In carry- 
ing out this divine injunction Vv^e differ from the de- 
nominations. They all accept Christ in a way, of 
course, but they insist on patching up a creed, and 
bringing down through the ages a lot of musty old 
theological deductions which can never be made to 
accord either with the Bible or with this progressive 
age. If you believe in Christ to the extent of keep- 
ing His commandments, you must essentially believe 
the Bible. So what more is necessary? 

Seventh: We are distinguished from nearly all 
other churches in our belief and practice regarding 
the Lord's Supper, commonly but incorrectly styled 
the "sacrament.'' We believe that the Lord's Supper 
should be regarded simply as a sweet m.emorial ser- 
vice. I never like to hear this blessed institution 
spoken of as the sacrament. That savors too much 
of Catholicism and the dark ages. 

We don't believe in the old doctrine of transub- 



DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 293 

stantiation — that the bread becomes the actual body 
of Christ, and the wine the actual blood. This view 
is an impious assumption. We are taught in God's 
Holy Book to regard the bread as a mere represen- 
tation of the body of Jesus, and the wine as a mere 
representation of His blood. When we partake of 
these emblems, sanctified by prayer to a sacred use, 
we see with the mind's eye the broken body of our 
Lord, and His shed blood. The picture, sad and 
solemn as it is, fills our hearts with gratitude to our 
Lord for the great sacrifice made because of our sins, 
and we resolve anew to give our lives to His precious 
service more wholly and unreservedly than we have 
ever done before. This, it seems to me, is the true 
character and purpose of the Lord's Supper. 

We believe in observing it on the first day of every 
week, because on the first day of the week, as it be- 
gan to be dawn — very early in the morning — ^when 
the Marys came to the sepulchre, they found the 
Lord had risen. From that day to the present, not 
a single Lord's Day has ever passed, I presume, but 
v/hat somewhere, on land or sea, in caves of the earth 
or palatial cathedrals, this supper has been celebrated. 
"As often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup,'' 
says Paul (i Cor. 11:26), "ye do show the Lord's 
death till he come.'' It was the custom of the early 
disciples to meet about the Lord's Table every first 
day of the week. This we learn from both sacred 
and secular history. Hence the Christian Church 
doesn't believe in celebrating it only once a month, or 
once in three months, or once a year, as the case may 
be. As we have here in the Book of God the in- 
spired pattern, we are trying to conform our practice 
thereto. Any deviation from this rule is dangerous, 
and it is a cause of grave concern that so many 
churches to-day ignore the apostolic example of 
weekly communion, 



^94 I>ISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

Then again, we don't believe in debarring anybody 
from the Lord's Table, nor inviting anybody to it. 
In this we are different from others, especially from 
the Regular Baptists. We are, practically speaking, 
neither close-communionists noropen-communionists. 
In one sense, and the true one, we are close-com- 
munionists: We will not co7nmune with anybody 
bnt Christ, You could not get me to commune with 
Brother Allen, dearly as I love him. I will not even 
commune with my own wife at the Lord's Table. 
I am such a close-communionist that I won't com- 
mune with anybody but my Lord and Saviour, Jesus 
Christ. This is the only right view on this question. 
But to debar anybody from the Lord's Supper is 
not our prerogative. There are some churches, you 
know, that will not allow anybody to sit at the Sup- 
per with them if not of their own peculiar faith and 
order. This is all wrong and deserves your condem- 
nation. When we observe the Supper we say, "This 
is the Lord's Table for the Lord's People." We 
neither invite nor debar, but quote the words of the 
apostle, "Let a man examine himself, and so let him 
eat." It is purely an individual matter. It is the 
Lord's Supper, and we are his guests. What right 
has any guest to say to you, "Come," or,"Stay away. ^" 

To-day Brother Haynes, Brother Ingram, Brother 
Hutto and myself, together with our Vv^ives, dined at 
the hospitable home of Brother Allen. Now suppose 
as we went in to dinner, I had said to Brother Haynes, 
"You get out! We don't agree. In our views re- 
garding some particular points of Scripture we differ; 
so you go out on the doorstep until we get through 
dinner." What if I had conducted myself in that 
way.^ Don't you suppose Brother Allen would have 
said, "Who gave you authority to dismiss one of 
my guests.'^" I fancy that I would feel cheap. And 



DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 295 

I fancy that these close-communionists would feel 
cheaper still when they invite people to stay away 
from the Lord's Table if they could only be made to 
realize how it displeases Him. 

I will tell you what happened in Johnstown, Penn- 
sylvania, a few years ago. Our Baptist friends had 
their church burned, and our people, being without 
a preacher at the time, invited their minister to 
preach in the Christian church. He very graciously 
came and preached an able and fraternal sermon; but 
when the time came to celebrate the Lord's Supper 
the Baptist preacher took his hat, and his^little flock 
filed out of the building. Our people were good 
enough to preach to but not to sit with at the Lord's 
Table. 

It is painful to record such happenings in this the 
evening of the 19th century. It was not the broad, 
sympathetic, and Scriptural spirit of Christianity 
that prompted this narrow action on the part of the 
Johnstown Baptists. It was the creed spirit, from 
which, oh. Lord, deliver us all! 

It is the Lord's Table for all the Lord's People. 
Some may eat and drink unworthily; if so it is an in- 
dividual matter and to suffer only individual condem- 
nation. And remember, we commune with Christ, 
not with each other. This is one of the most joyful 
and helpful services of the church. May the day 
speedily come when all God's people will get right on 
this communion question. The teachings of the Bible 
are so plain concerning it that there is no excuse for 
being wrong. 

Eighth: We are distinguished from the other 
churches in our position on the subject of Christian 
Union. First and foremost among all the great re- 
ligious bodies the Christian Church has pleaded for the 
union of Christ's followers everywhere. When the 



296 DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

Campbells, Stones, Scotts, and other great minds 
of our earlier history, saw the divided state of the 
Christian world, and recognized the sad fact that 
thousands and tens of thousands were perishing be- 
cause of these divisions, they determined to give their 
lives in an honest effort to get people to remove ever}^ 
barrier and become one in Christ. From, that day 
to this the burden of our preaching has been the 
Union of God's People in accordance with the Scrip- 
tural ideal. And I am glad to say that our plea is 
leavening the Vv^hole Christian world. Great religious 
congresses and mass meetings of every kind that can 
bring Christian workers of every faith and order closer 
together are being held from time to time, and the 
spirit of fraternity is now abroad in the lands of the 
earth as never before. 

We are making more converts proportionately than 
any other religious body. I suppose we are the great- 
est proselyters on earth,and I say it proudly. I always 
want it distinctly understood that I am a proselyter 
— would proselyte every living man if possible 
from the doctrinal errors of man to Scriptural truth. 
I would proselyte every living m,an if possible from 
human names and human creeds to the Bible and the 
Bible alone. Our simple, sensible, Scriptural plea 
brings in large numbers from other churches all over 
the land. They come gladly, desiring to be simply 
Christians, no more and no less. 

There can be no true union except on the Word 
of God. We can never all consent to be Methodists, 
for instance. They are a strong,energetic, temperate, 
missionary people. They are to-day doing, and have 
long been doing,a great work for the Master; but the 
time will never come when all God's people can 
conscienticnsly join the Methodist church. The 
Presbyterian church also, Vvith its scholarly men and 



DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 297 

pious membership, is doing a great work; but the 
time will never come when all can be Presbyterians. 
The religious world can never unite on Calvinism, or 
Arminianism, or any other ism. The only place we 
ever can unite is on God's Book. The Bible and 
the Bible alone can be the only doctrinal basis of 
Christian union. And every man must be allowed to 
be his own interpreter of the Scriptures. God never 
intended that priests and theologians should sit in 
their dogmatical robes and hand down interpreta- 
tions for the masses to accept as infallible. Every 
child of God should feel that God's Book was in- 
tended for him to study, interpret, and apply for 
his own good and the good of those about him. 

We believe that the disunion of professed Chris- 
tians is a sin. There is much talk about union often- 
times v/hen there is no real union. Some preachers' 
idea of being one seems to be in not talking about 
their differences. They thank God that although they 
can't all see alike, they can bury the hatchet occa- 
sionally and work together. Bat a union that con- 
sists simply in a tacit understanding to avoid differ- 
ences for a time is not the union for which our Lord 
prayed. Paul, in i Cor. i:io, says, "Now I beseech 
you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no 
divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined 
together in the same mind and in the same judg- 
ment." We claim that the preachers who advocate 
divisions as a good thing, are positively breaking a 
divine commandment! Again and again in the New 
Testament we are exhorted to be one. Christ prayed 
(John 17:21) that his disciples might be one, "As 
thou, Father, art in Me and I in Thee, that they 
also may be one in us." That prayer is not answered 
yet and it cannot be fully answered as long as divi- 



298 DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

sions and sectarianism exist. For centuries the whole 
religious world has been sadly divided over human 
names and human creeds; on traditions, doctrines, 
and theological deductions of human authority. Why 
can we not take the Bible and the Bible alone as our 
guide? Why can we not discard all ecclesiasticisms 
and take God's Word alone as the arbiter of all our 
differences? The Christian Church, with malice to- 
wards none and charity for all, is working and pray- 
ing toward this blessed consummation. 

And why not? We look over the globe and see 
only one-fifth of its population Christian. One- 
third of the world has never even, heard of Christ. 
And yet millions of dollars are being wasted by God's 
people every year perpetuating their petty differences! 
"Oh, Religion, what crimes are committed in thy 
name!'' 

The Christian Church believes that it is possible 
for people to bury their prejudices and exalt Christ. 
Nay, we believe it probable. Look at the Young 
People's Society of Christian Endeavor and at the 
Young Men's Christian Association. What a mighty 
union work they are doing! Is it possible that God 
will let his Son's prayer go unanswered? No. Union 
is coming. It is in the azr ythdink God, and those who 
fail to fall into line will soon be distanced. 

I am sorry to see a disposition on the part of some, 
however, to hinder this general onward moven:ient. 
It was a pity that the great Methodist Church, for 
instance, grew so nervous lest their young people 
should so far forget their sectarianism as to become 
wholly Christian, that its leaders thought it necessary 
to found a counter-movement in the Epworth League; 
and also the Baptist Church with its Young People's 
Unions. They evidently desired Baptist Union more 
than Christian Union. But I rejoice that the Young 



DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 299 

People's Society of Christian Endeavor stands in the 
lead of all similar movements in the world's history. 
In thirteen years it has grown from a membership 
of forty-eight to an enrollment of two millions. And 
Dr. Clark himself, founder of the work, said a few 
years ago that he was surprised to learn how nearly 
parallel was the Endeavor movement with that of 
the Disciples^ We are not working in the name of 
Campbell, but in the nam.e of Christ. And the Wom- 
an's Christian Temperance union is not working in 
the name of Wesley, but in the name of Christ. And 
the Young Men's Christian Association is not working 
in the name of Luther, or Calvin, but in the name of 
Christ. 

The International Sunday School Lesson Series 
have proven another wonderful help in the direction of 
Christian Union. Every Sunday about twenty million 
children sit down in different parts of the world and 
study the same divine vv^ords. In this way the atten- 
tion of a large percentage of the religious world is 
centered on the same thing at the same time, and it 
is a great stride in the right direction. 

Again, such men as Mr. Moody, Sam Jones, Mr. 
Mills, and other well known evangelists have helped 
to bring God's people closer together. They say, 
"We Will come to your city and work for you, if all 
you professed Christians will drop your differences 
and work together as one band for the salvation of 
souls.'' Mr. Mills gained eight thousand signatures 
to his believer's card in Cincinnati. The leading 
churches united and gave him the support he needed. 
The success of Mr. Moody in filling the largest halls 
wherever he goes, must be attributed, not to his 
abihty as a preacher, but to the royal support he 
receives from the many^, churches that consent to 
work together as one man under his leadership. Now 



300 DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

if God's people can unite for a six weeks' meeting; 
if they can bury all their differences for a time and 
be one in Christ, with the Bible as their only text- 
book, why can't they remain together for a year? 
And if for one year, then all the time? They could 
if they only zvould. It is for this gladsome end that 
the Christian Church is toiling. For the time when 
there will be no male nor female, no bond nor free, 
no rich nor poor, no north or south, but when all 
God's people shall be one in Christ Jesus. (Gal. 3:28.) 

But how are we going to get together? 

Let us imagine ourselves in a mighty auditorium. 
In its four coiners are four different men. They 
desire to come together, but neither will come to 
another corner. In the center of the room is a beau- 
tiful fountain. Finally some one proposes that they 
all meet at that fountain. They start for the com- 
mon center. They come on forty, fifty, 100 feet. 
The nearer they come to the fountain the nearer 
they come to each other, each making concessions 
of location and space. At last they reach their des- 
tination and clasp hands around the sparkling waters 
of the fountain. Jesus Christ, the great fountain of 
life, liberty, and love, is set up in the center of the 
world. The nearer God's children come to Christ 
the nearer they will com.e to each other. Let us 
hasten the day v^hen we can all clasp hands and sing, 
"Blest be the tie that binds!" God help us all to cease 
our strife and bury our differences forever! God 
help us all to draw near to that Great Fountain 
which is set for the world's cleansing! God help us 
all to strike hands in the spirit of those of old who 
said, "We be brethren." 

It was John Livingston, I believe, who said, "United 
we stand, divided we fall. "And he was a shrewd states- 
man who, commenting on this motto, exclaimed "If 



DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 30I 

we don't stand together, fellow citizens, we will hang 
separately!" 

The saloons are 240,000 strong in our land. Accord- 
ing to Governor St. John, 150,000 persons annually 
fill a drunkard's grave as a result of their pernicious 
work. Vice and wickedness of every sort are abroad 
in the land. Virtue is bartered, morals corrupted, sin 
allowed to run rampant in this "home of the brave 
and the free." Surely there is a greater demand to-day 
for united work among Christians than ever before. 
And the time has come when we should stand to- 
gether in solid phalanx; when we should all be sim- 
ply Christians, with only one name, one faith, one 
practice. This would insure a concentration of power 
against which the hosts of darkness could never 
stand. 

There is another thing: Eight hundred millions 
are dying without the gospel. They are already 
burdened with isms of every description, like Bud- 
dhism, Confucianism, Mohammedanism, etc. We 
need not take sectarianism to them, for they would 
only laugh us to scorn. They can beat us badly on 
divisions. In India alone they claim three hundred 
and thirty million gods. They don't want any more 
human gods nor human doctrines. They are already 
theorized to death. I was talking with a returned 
missionary from India some time ago. I asked him 
if sectarian lines were as pointedly drawn over there 
as here. He replied, in substance, "No, no, no! we 
don't want to know anything about theological differ- 
ences over there; we simply exalt Christ and his 
gospel. We have to do it. It is the only way to 
reach the poor, deluded, sin-sick heathen. We sim- 
ply preach Jesus and the story of his wonderful love. 
His great sacrifice on the cross for fallen humanity 
is the burden of our sermons." Oh, that these ear- 



302 DISTINGUISHING PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 

nest words might fill us, and thrill us, and stir us to 
more urgent effort toward uniting God's children of 
every faith and name. The hungering hearts of those 
who sit in darkness ought to appeal to us so strongly 
that we would drop our differences and keep step 
hereafter to the music of God' s commands and the 
lost IV or Id' s demands. 

These are the distinguishing differences between 
the Christian Church and our neighbors. Are they 
reasonable? Are they worth sacrificing for? Are they 
noble enough to demand a life's earnest service? I 
think so. 

Is it any wonder the church is prosperous? Is it 
any wonder that skeptics are nonplussed at our po- 
sition, and that the ablest infidel debaters cannot 
stand before it? Is it any wonder that tens of thou- 
sands are obeying the gospel under the labors of our 
evangelists? Is it any wonder that wherever they 
go the study of the Bible becomes an all-absorbing 
custom, and religious interest is quickened to the 
highest pitch? Our plea is so remarkably practical 
and wonderfully simple that it is not at all surprising 
that men like Garfield loved it better than life. Per- 
haps the most polished of any of our presidents in- 
tellectual]y,he lived and died in the Christian Church. 
For years he preached as opportunity offered, and 
left his impress on many of our Ohio congregations. 
It is not surprising that men like Jeremiah Black, 
the great jurist, was a life-long advocate of our plea. 
It ever has and ever must command the attention of 
the thinking world, for it is consistent, Scriptural, 
all-sufficient. 

Father, mother, brother, sister, we invite you to 
come — not to ns^biit to Jesns Clirist, Come to Him. 
Then hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, we will 
march together under the blood-stained banner of 



D!S1- . ...orLlXG PRINCIPLES OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 303 

the Cross. "Come thou with us and we will do 
thee good." If you are the victim of sectarian 
shackles, rise up to-night and throw them off. Don't 
be afraid to be a ^-turncoat.'' Som.e of the wisest 
and best men the world has ever seen w^ere ttirn- 
coats. Saul of Tarsus for instance, and Luther. 
The great need of the age is m.en of principle. If 
you believe the principles we advocate are right(and 
how can any sane, intelligent human being believe 
otherwise?) come nov^ and identify yourself with us, 
and so take part in the greatest religious movement 
of modern times. 



HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL. 

"He that endureth to the end shall be saved," — Matt. 10:22. 

We are here this morning rejoicing in the fact that 
108 persons have accepted the invitation of the Lamb 
during our meetings, and have enrolled their names on 
the books of the church. We are giad that during 
the last two evenings six young men have mede the 
good confession. During this revival a goodly num- 
ber of young men who were in the service of sin, and 
not a few young ladies, have consecrated themselves 
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are glad that some 
fathers and mothers, and some husbands and wives 
have come. We are anxious now that all these par- 
doned ones shall not turn back, shall not backslide. 

There are a great many persons whose names are 
on the church books, but who are not faithful Chris- 
tians. They are Christians in a nominal sense, be- 
cause once a Christian always a CJiristian, There 
is no such thing as getting out of the Kingdom of 
Grace (the church) until they die out. But there is 
such a thing as being a sinful and slothful Christian. 
We have a good many of that kind in our various 
memberships nowadays. A man professes to be a 
Christian and bets on horses, for instance, or gambles 
in stocks, or votes for and patronizes the saloon. 
' Can one do all that and still be a Christian? Yes, a 
rotten one. Such characters will soon run their 
course and drop into hell. 

We are very anxious that those who have been 
converted in these meetings, should not turn back. 

304 



HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 305 

Hence my theme this morning is one of transcend- 
ent importance to the Church, "How to hold out 
faithful." 

If you start in the Christian life and don't hold 
out faithful, it is just as bad as if you had never 
started at all. You need not think just because you 
have confessed Christ and put him on in holy bap- 
tism that you are going to be saved in Heaven after 
death whether or no, no matter hov/ you live. No, 
no! You must live as a Christian ought to live or 
the Lord will never give you the crown of life. 

It may be a long journey with you from earth to 
heaven, or it may be a short journey. I cannot 
tell you how long or how short it may be. But it is 
a journey that must be made with fear and trembling, 
with faith and work. 

At one of my meetings a husband and wife ac- 
cepted the Saviour, and started together in the heav- 
enward way. A few weeks later I heard that the 
wife had departed this life. Her journey was short, 
and her reward came soon. It might be so with you. 

We were talking about this hundred additions the 
other day. That is a large increase for one congre- 
gation in Chicago to have in one revival. There have 
been few greater victories in the history of the city. 
And yet it seems to me that we ought to have had 
many more. When we remember that a hundred 
persons were lost in the flood out west in a few hours 
the other day, it seems like slow work — ^saving lOO 
souls in several weeks— and yet again how thankful 
we ought to be that five score persons have been 
safely harbored in the fold of the Good Shepherd! 

It is a great work, brethren, this saving of souls. 
I delight in it above all things. It fills my heart 
with joy to see people come to Christ, and it fills my 
heart with joy to see them remain faithful to Christ, 



3o6 HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 

A few years ago I conducted a successful meeting 
in an Iowa city. Some months afterwards I saw 
one of the officers of the church, and I inquired of 
him very anxiously, "How are the new converts 
sticking?'' And he said, "So far as I know, every 
one is faithful/' How that rejoiced my heart! I was 
glad beyond language to express. At another place, 
in Missouri, we had over lOO additions to the church, 
among the number thirty young men. Six months 
later I met the Superintendent of the Sunday School 
from that church, and learned that every one of the 
new converts was holding out faithful. 

I always aim to make the Gospel so simple that 
every one will understand it; and also try to make 
every new convert feel the importance of "adding to 
their faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and -to 
knowledge temperance;" and all the other Christian 
virtues. It has been one of the delights of my minis- 
terial life that very few, comparatively, who come to 
Christ under my preaching, poor as it is, ever turn 
back. But they "go on to perfection," as Paul en- 
joins, and many of my "children in the Lord" have be- 
come shining lights in the household of faith. I hope 
it will be so here, and that many of your best workers 
in the future will come from among these new 
converts. God grant that before many years have 
passed, some of you will have consecrated yourselves 
to the ministry, and that some will hSve gone as 
missionaries to foreign fields. This is my earnest 
prayer and desire in behalf of the dear ones brought 
to Christ during this meeting. 

Now to our subject: "How to hold out faithful." 
Too many join the Church in winter only to turn back 
in water-melon season. Too many warm up awfully 
in the time of revivals only to become lax religiously 
and rotten in the time of temptation and trial Too 



HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 307 

many get cooled off during dog-days and fair time, 
and then along about lent they get stirred up again. 
It takes a continual revival to keep some people 
in the service. But I trust all those who have come 
to Christ during these special services will work in 
warm weather as well as in cold, in adversity as well 
as in prosperity. We should always rejoice in the 
Lord. And I trust you will all, under all circum- 
stances, keep in the straight and narrow path which 
leadeth heavenward, realizing that the same Lord is 
with you when you are sad and when you are joyfuL 
So whether on the mountain heights of victory or 
in the valley of defeat, learn to lean on His strong 
arm, knowing that "all things work together for good 
to them that love God.'^ 

Now if we expect the young convert to hold out 
faithful, we must give him a few specific directions 
early in his Christian career. He wants, to know 
what to do, and how to do it. I believe there are 
lots of people growing cold and careless in our 
churches for the lack of this knowledge. The Chris- 
tian life is an active life, and it is a solemn duty we 
owe to our new recruits to give them work. Some 
well-meaning pastors object to revivals. They say 
that too many of the new converts go back to the 
world. That is doubtless true in some instances, for 
some objecting pastors are not worth shooting with a 
pop-gun. They are jealous of the evangelist, and 
they take delight in slighting his converts after the 
revival is over. They let them die a slow death from 
spiritual ennui. But there should be no conflict 
between pastor and evangelist. Both are called 
by God to two lines of work parallel in importance. 
Every church should have a good hearty revival once 
in a while, and then put the new converts to work. 
The true pastor will give them something to doj 



3o8 HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 

and tell them how to do it. Some pastors and elders 
fail in their duty in this matter, and then when they 
observe that their "babes in Christ" are doing some- 
thing not exactly consistent, scold them and give them 
a kick downward. This is hardly Scriptural, to say 
the least. I believe that the vast m.ajority of our 
converts here will hold out faithful, for you have a 
pastor that will help you, and yon are in a church 
famous for its fraternitj^ 

I want to suggest to you to-day four rules, which 
if faithfully observed every day will enable you to 
"endure to the end." I will write these rules on the 
blackboard in full view of all. There might be 
many more given, but I think these four epitomize 
the entire question. You have to endure to the end. 
It will not do to be real religious six months; and 
then cool off and come to church only occasionally 
for a few months; and then miove away somewhere, 
and in a year and a half backslide completely — yield 
to temptation, and give your life over to the service 
of the devil. If we would go to Heaven we must be 
true to Christ every day in the w^eek, every week in 
the month, and every month in the year. Paul in 
writing to the Galatians said, "Ye did run well; who 
did hinder you.'^^Later on in their career than the time 
of vv^hich Paul spoke the Galatians became careless 
and committed many sins. So it will never do for 
you to stop rimning in the glorious race for a crown, 
for if you get tired after awhile and sit down and don't 
run any more Satan will get you sure. But if some- 
time you feel weak and weary, ask God to give you 
new strength and He will do it. 

First of all then, if you want to hold out faithful, 
new and old converts alike, you must (I will not say 
simply ought y or that you may, if you get time; but 
you must)j 



how to hold out faithful 309 

Read the Bible every day. 

You must read the Bible seven days in the week. 
I am convinced from an extended observation and 
from more than ordinary opportunities which I have 
improved to learn the truth in the matter that very few 
professing Christians read the Bible assiduously. If 
I should put this question this morning: — How many 
in the congregation have read seven chapters in God's 
Word during the past week? I don't suppose fifty 
hands would be raised. And yet this church num- 
beres about 700 members! My hand would go up, 
for it has been my custom for several years to read 
carefully, and usually aloud, from one to five chap- 
ters daily, and I have had more joy, more profound 
satisfaction in the Christian Hfe since I began the 
observance of this pleasant practice, than ever before. 
You may be old and gray-headed, my brother; or 
you may be a business man toiling from morning till 
night, with few moments for quiet meditation; but 
if you are a Christian you can' t afford to neglect 
to read the Word of God every day of your life. 
Better, thrice over, neglect your morning paper, or 
go without your evening meal, than to neglect to feed 
upon the bread of life as we find it in God's great 
store-house of truth. 

And when you do begin to read daily, be 
persistent. It is regular, systematic, thoughtful 
reading that counts. Do not, if unusually busy 
one day, put off reading until you have more 
leisure. As well put off eating and sleeping when 
busy until you have more time. The Bible is the 
great textbook of life, and our souls need to be re- 
freshed from its sacred pages regularly every day. 

Another thought right here: Don't read spasmod- 
ically and jerkingly. Some people just open the 
Bible at random and read wherever the eyes happen 



3IO HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 

to rest, and imagine that this is studying the Word 
of God! Suppose you were going to study the his- 
tory of the United States; would you pick up the 
book and open at the French-Indian war one dsty, 
studying a page or two? And the next day would 
you open at the Period of the Reconstruction? And 
the next day at the account of the Settlement of 
Jamestown, or the story of Pocahontas? If you 
should follow this slip-shod method for four or five 
days you would doubtless grow very tired and say, 
"This book doesn't interest me at all," when it would 
not be the book's fault, but your own. Now a good 
teacher would tell you to commence at the begin- 
ning, at the period of the Discovery, and read every 
page carefully to the end. Such a course will give 
anybody a keener appreciation of the struggles and 
triumphs of our great country. 

So with the Word of God. We must read it sys- 
tematically and studiously. We must study its va- 
rious passages with reference to their connection. 
We must fairly absorb it with this prayer in mind: 
Teach me Thy will. And / am anxious to know 
what thou wouldst have me to do. Dear Father^ 
open mine eyes that 1 7nay learn. We should read 
with a realizing sense that it is God's Book, and 
that our Eternal Salvation depends on how we read 
and apply its divine teachings. 

With these fundamental thoughts in mind, com- 
mence and read it through carefully and prayerfully 
from Genesis to Revelation. Then repeat again and 
yet again throughout life's journey. Many read the 
Bible through a dozen, twenty, and some few even 
fifty times. The more you read the Bible the more 
interesting, beautiful and precious it becomes to you. 
This is something that can be said of no other book. 
The finest piece of fiction will pall upon the mind 



ttOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 311 

after two or three readings. And it is so with all 
human literature. The finest story I ever read, I 
think, "Ben Hur," by Gen. Lew Wallace, is absorb- 
ingly interesting and wonderfully helpfuL And yet I 
never read the book but once. A second reading, I am 
sure, would mar my ecstatic regard for the work, and 
so it is doubtful if I will ever read it through again. 
I read the "Hoosier School-Master,"by Edward Eggle- 
ston, twice while in my teens, but did not enjoy it 
nearly so much the second time as the first. But the 
Bible never palls on the mind, although we read it 
over and over again and again. I have read the 12th 
Chapter of Romans and the 23rd Psalm hundreds of 
times, and yet the more I read these marvelous selec- 
tions the more beautiful and comforting they are. 
Each time we read the Word of God we receive new 
inspiration, an inspiration more heavenly and more 
powerful than that imparted by all other books com- 
bined. 

So never neglect the study of God's Word if you 
want to hold out faithful. You are all busy people. 
You can't read four or five chapters at a time per- 
haps, but you can read one or tv/o if you only try. 
Commence to-day. I wish all of our nev,^ converts 
would commence at the Book of Romans and read 
first of all the fourteen epistles written by the great 
Apostle Paul. Then the seven books written by 
James, Peter, and John. After that I would have 
you go back to the beginning of the New Testament 
and read the wonderfully interesting life of Christ as 
recorded by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, culmin- 
ating in that matchless history of conversions, the 
Book of Acts. Then I would have you go back to the 
very beginning of the Bible and read the Pentateuch — 
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuter- 
onomy, These books are more fascinating than the 



312 HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 

choicest fiction, and full of wholesome food for the 
souL Then read the historical books, beginning with 
Joshua and ending with Esther. Then the poetical 
books, including the Psalms, Proverbs, and Eccle- 
siastes. Then the prophets, and last of all, jump 
clear over to the end of the collection and read that 
most remarkable piece of literature in the world, the 
Book of Revelation. Follow some such plan as this, 
my friend, and you Vv^ill find joy and satisfaction in 
reading the Word of God. 

Yes, Read the Bible every day. You often have a 
few minutes just before dinner or just after the even- 
ing meal. Improve the time by reading the Bible. 
It is so common v/hen we have a few odd moments 
to pick up the first thing we can get our hands on 
and read to kill time. Some pick up the almanac 
and read the jokes when they might be storing the 
mind with scm.ething valuable. I have no objection 
to joke reading occasionally as a means of m.ental 
recreation; but I do insist that the average funny 
column affords little food for thought. 

In this city thousands of people work down town. 
You have a half-hour's ride on the cars going and com- 
ing. Why not carry a little Testament in your pocket 
and read a few chapters each day, or better, com.m.it 
to memory some favorite passage. In this way you 
could soon memorize a large part of the Bible. 

If possible read at the same time every day. Be as 
regular in your devotions as a clock. If you will do 
this you will soon come to enjoy the exercise, and the 
profit will be beyond computation. I am trying to be 
explicit here, for half the battle in "Holding cut 
Faithful" is in knowing hov/. Fill your soul with the 
Christ and His redeeming love, and any service ycu 
may be called upon to render fcr God or hun ai ity 
will be sweet. "Search the scriptures, for in them 



HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 313 

ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they 
which testify of me," said Jesus. If you want to love 
your Master better, if you want to serve him more 
faithfully, if you want to help dying souls to a better 
life, search the Book. Neglect it not, and when at 
last you are called upon to lay down this life, you 
will be ready to enter Heaven with a keener appreci- 
ation of the Beautiful City and its Tree of Life. 

"Koly Bible, Book divine 
Precious treasure, thou art mine, 
Mine to tell me whence I came, 
Mine to teach me what I am. 

"Mine to chide me when I rove ; 
Mine to show a Saviour's love. 
Mine thou art to guide and guard 
Mine to punish or reward. 

"Mine to comfort in distress, 
Suffering in this wilderness. 
Mine to show by living faith, 
Man can triumph over death, 

'Mine to tell of joys to come. 
And the rebel sinner's doom; 
Oh, thou Holy Book Divine, 
Precious treasure, thou art mine." 

(^Bttrton,^ 

In the second place, you are to 

Pray. 

Read the Bible and Pray. I put in the conjunction 
andSox the two duties must not be separated. I am 
going to connect the other rules also with this little 
conjunction, thus making agolden chain which should 
ever be kept intact. If you take out one link the 
chain would be broken, and this would never do, for 
all the duties mentioned are equally imperative. 

Read the Bible — How often .^ Every day. Pray 
— How often? Every Sunday morning regularly? 



314 HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 

Should that be the rule? No. If a person can't 
pray but once a week he might as well not pray at all. 
Paul enjoins us to "pray without ceasing.'* This does 
not mean that we are to pray only on Sunday, and 
then pitch into business the next morning and work 
all the week like everything — for six days without ever 
taking thought of God and our sacred relationship to 
Him. No, not at all I want you to think more 
about doing right and going to Heaven than anything 
else. Get rich if you can without being dishonest, 
and without slighting God. I wish every one of you 
were worth ten dollars where you are worth one to- 
day. It is not wrong to get lots of m.oney if you get 
it honestly. It is not money per se, but the love of 
money which Paul declares to be the root of all evil. 
It is the dangerous habit of working six days for self 
with all the energy you possess, and then giving to 
the Lord's service only the little energy you have 
left, that I would guard you against. 

A young man saw an advertisement in a paper read- 
ing something like this: "How to get rich. Send 50 
cents, etc." He sent his fifty cents and got the receipt. 
What do you think it was? "Work like the devil and 
never spend a cent!" Many people come very near 
following that plan, and seem to think that they can 
say a few prayers on Sunday and make up for their 
neglect of God during the v/eek. But the faithful 
Christian will make prayer a daily business. It is 
one of the mightiest developing forces of the uni- 
verse, and we cannot afford to be careless in its use, 
Holland says: — 

* 'Heaven is not reached at a single bound; 
But we build the ladder by which we rise 
From the lowly earth to the vaulted skies, 
And mount to its summit, round by round.'* 

You can't "endure to the end'' by merely saying a 
few prayers on Sunday, or by manifesting a little 



HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 315 

more than usual religious fervor during a revival. 
Serving Christ is a daily business, day by day, round 
by round, link by link. 

A true Christian should never let twenty-four hours 
go by without prayer. You should return thanks at 
the table; and of course you should have family wor- 
ship regularly if you are the head of a family. De- 
pend upon it, the days will not go right, and the 
children will not grow up as they should, if you neglect 
this sweet privilege of spending a few minutes together 
each day about the family altar. 

I do not think the exercises at family worship 
should be long. There is no necessity for reading 
seventy-five verses and praying fifteen minutes each 
time. But I do think you ought to spend four or five 
minutes a day with your family in Bible study and 
prayer. Make the service simple and sweet. Let 
mother lead in prayer occasionally, or one of the 
older children. It is a good thing always to repeat 
the Lord's Prayer in concert. Thus each member of 
the household learns to pray. Keep out of ruts in 
this service. Make it attractive, and in years to come 
your children will rise up and call you blessed for 
the good influences set in motion at the old hearth- 
stone. 

If you are a young man, or a young lady, boarding 
away from home, you ought to spend a little time in 
your room studying God's Word and in prayer every 
day. Montgomery has well styled prayer the health 
of the Christian's life. No one should try to live 
without prayer. 

Fathers, mothers, old people, if you have been in 
the church fifty years it makes no difference. You 
ought to go apart and pray every day just the same 
as the young person who has just entered the Chris- 
tian life. If an half hour were spent in this way every 



3l6 HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 

day, I think it would be a blessed oasis to you in the 
desert of your failing health and hopes. Martin 
Luther, you remember, spent three hours in prayer 
each day, and he was one of the busiest men the 
world has ever known. For some natures this might 
be too much, but for others it v/ould be just the thing. 
It would smooth many a rough place for them in the 
journey of life. 

Oh, get on your knees often, my brother, and talk 
to God with reference to the affairs of every day. 
Confide in Him, and lean upon Him. You should 
never undertake to do anything that you do not ask 
God to bless you in doing. You should never go forth 
to your daily work without asking God to accompany 
and help you. You should never engage in any new 
enterprise until you have counseled with the Lord 
concerning it. Remember this, dear friends, and it 
may save you from many a fall. If you can get down 
on your knees consistently and ask God to help you 
to win at the gambling table, then go ahead. But 
who ever heard of a Christian returning from a dance 
hall, or from a saloon, or from a brothel, and bowing 
down to thank God for the good time he has had? 
Why, the very thought seems ridiculous. Very well: 
the lesson is, never^ take any part in anything that 
you can't ask God to bless. Every ambition, every 
impulse of the heart, every undertaking of life should 
be fairly saturated in the spirit of prayer. 

Some professing Christians do not seem to enjoy 
the service of Jesus. Investigation usually discloses 
the fact that they neglect secret prayer. Some seem 
to have grown a little tired of the Church. What's 
the matter? Why, they fail to pray. 

Let us not be slovv' to ask of God whatever we desire. 
*^Pray without ceasing,'' says Paul. "In everything 
give thanks." (Thes. 5:17, 18.) We should be 



HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 317 

practical in our petitions. Often should we say, Lord, 
give me wisdom. And, Lord, direct me what to do 
and what not to do. One cannot estimate the help- 
fulness of secret prayer. You should have some 
regular place to go, a place that will soon become 
sacred to you because of its sweet associations. If 
you have a room of your own go there. If you have 
a room with some friend or relative, you can find per- 
haps an occasional hour when you can be alone; if 
not, you can select some other place where you can 
be alone with God. When a boy I used to go out in 
my father's orchard and there I would bow down 
among the trees in the moonlight and pour out my 
soul to God, and I know that He blessed me very 
much. Do not undervalue this suggestion of being 
alone with God regularly, for it is very essential, 

A friend of mine related to me not long ago how 
his room-mate in college used to do. He was a very 
religious young man, but very unostentatious in his 
devotions. Every morning he arose early and made 
his way to an old sawmill hard by their boarding 
place that he might engage in secret prayer without 
interruption. At first, my friend told me, he did not 
know what to think of his room-mate for these un- 
timely walks. So one morning he followed him at 
a respectful distance, and had his curiosity rewarded 
by seeing his companion bowed behind a great log in 
the mill yard, and pouring out his heart to his Maker. 
That young man afterwards became an able preacher 
and college president. I know him well. 

If I could only get all our brethren, one million 
strong, old and young, to follow this rule, we would 
soon reach a sphere of usefulness and influence which 
would surprise the most sanguine. If I could get 
ou'r six thousand ministers to make this an invariable 
rule, an iron-clad rule not to be departed from under 



3l8 HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 

any circumstances,! believe we could speedily double 
and triple our numbers, our wealth, and our influence 
for good. May God help you one and all to pray 
every day in secret. 

In the third place, if you would hold out faithful, 
you must 

GO TO CHURCH. 

By this expression I mean for you to be regular 
and faithful in attendance upon all the services of 
the sanctuary. Be at the Prayer Meeting, for in- 
stance. From this church of 700 or more members 
there should be at least 300 at the mid-week Prayer 
Meeting. You should have not only a pleasant, so- 
ciable time at this service, but you should have many 
conversions. 

Be at the Sunday School service, and take some 
active part therein. Be at church every Sunday 
morning regularly, without fail. When the table of 
the Lord is spread with the holy emblems of His 
sufferings and death, it is our duty to be there and 
commune with Him. This in my opinion is the most 
important service of the week, and you should never 
fail to be on hand at this hour unless you are sick, 
or out of the city, or have some other reasonable 
excuse. 

Then be at the Sunday night service. Many 
pastors deplore the fact that their members will not 
be at their posts of duty on Sunday nights. Some of 
them go to bed early. Some are too lazy after partak- 
ing of a chicken dinner to come to church. They 
prefer to spend the evening in their hammocks. Some 
take ahttle bicycle ride, or walk through the park. 
But remember the pastor needs and deserves your 
earnest cooperation in his efforts to save souls, and 
you need the lovely songs, the stirring sermon, and 



HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 319 

the hearty hand-shakes afforded at the house of God. 
Once form the habit of attending, and depend upon 
it the evening service will be a great pleasure and 
benefit to you. 

Throw your whole life into the Church, my brother. 
Make it your first and last business to engage in the 
service of Jesus, There is no business that promises 
such large results. Every member of the church 
should be a working- member. Any faithful pastor 
can do more with fifty working members than with 
jfive hundred of the indifferent, sleepy, happy-go-lucky 
sort. You may not be rich in this world's goods, 
but you can be rich in heart service. 

I remember that at one place where I was pastor, 
we had an old sister who was as poor as the tradi- 
tional Job's turkey that we have all heard so much 
about. She couldn't do much in the way of church 
work. She was as poor in speech as in purse. She did 
not know much save that the old, old story was true. 
But she was of great assistance to me, for she was 
always at her place. There in her pew at my right, 
rain or shine, hot or cold, she was to be seen as 
regularly as the weeks rolled round. If she was not 
there we all knew that Grandma was sick, or out of 
the city. Her unfailing regularity and stern punctu- 
ality at all regular services made up for any other 
deficiencies, and gave us great pleasure. She was 
always appreciative and never gave utterance to any 
unkind criticism of her pastor. That kind of a mem- 
ber is worth five times as much as those of superior 
intelligence and wealth who only come to church 
when the weather is just right, or who stay away be- 
cause the preacher occasionally says something they 
don't like. 

You owe it to your pastor, you owe it to the 
church, you owe it to the world about you, and above 



320 HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 

all you owe it to the Lord, to be patient, earnest, 
faithful, persistent, and consistent Christians^ Every 
professor of religion ought to attend church regularly. 
We have perhaps thirteen million church members in 
this country. What a mighty army! Why, we could 
turn the world upside down, figuratively speaking, if 
they would all go to church regularly and live up to the 
requirements of their sacred profession. But there 
are so many vacant seats. You onght'to be at your 
post of duty in the church just as regularly as you 
are at your place of business. Form the habit once 
and it will soon become a second nature, and you 
will feel lost if at any time you shall be unable to get 
out to service; you will feel that something has gone 
wrong. There is no good reason why the pevvs of 
our churches should not be filled to overflowing every 
Lord's Day the year around. 

It is the grandest place in the world to go, the 
place where brother meets with brother to learn of 
God's law and love, and where saints rejoice together 
in blessed fellowship with the Lamb of God who 
taketh away the sins of the world. So I beg of you, 
if you would be true to Christ, to be faithful in the 
observance of this rule, and ^^ to chtirch regularly 
as long as you live. 

In the fourth place, if you would hold out faithful, 
you must 

PAY. 

This rule is one of very great importance if not 
so popular. It completes the quartette nicely, — 

Read the Bible 

And pray ; 
Go to Church 

And pay. 

Makes a little poem, don't it? Not very good 



HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 32I 

poetry, I admit, but it's good theology, gilt edged 
theology. And pay — this is the last but by no means 
the least requirement. You can't go to heaven with- 
out paying, unless you are a pauper and haven't any- 
thing with which to pay. Of course if you haven't 
anything, the Lord will let you pass; for "where 
nothing's given, nothing's required.'^ But I doubt if 
there is a single member in this large congregation 
who is not able to pay something. I doubt if you 
can find twenty professing Christians in the great City 
of Chicago who cannot pay anything. What if it is 
only a penny or two, it is something, ancithe Lord 
accepts "according to what a man hath, and not 
according to what he hath not.*'Everybody has some 
money. If you are too poor to pay anything toward 
the support of the Gospel, then the brethren should 
take up a collection for you or send you to the poor- 
house. As long as you have any money at all it is 
your Christian duty to pay part of it to the Lord. 
If you don't you will never hold out faithful, and you 
will never be truly prosperous. 

I v^ant you to realize that it is your duty, rather 
your privilege, to pay, pay, pay constantly. It may 
be that after awhile, when Mr. Edward Bellamy gets 
his Utopian schemes into operation, and removes the 
troublesome presence of filthy lucre as we know it 
to-day, we will not have to pay. But under the 
present condition of things there is no place for dead- 
heads in the church. It takes money for almost 
everything, — money to buy beefsteak; money to buy 
potatoes; money to pay for what you wear; money 
to pay for what you drink (a wofully big item with 
some people) ; and it is money, money from the 
cradle to the grave. An old proverb says, "Money 
.iiakes the mare go." And in a very practical sense 
that is true, for the mare must have a harness, and 
a driver, and something to eat. 



322 HOW TO HOLD. OUT FAITHFUL 

So it takes money to make the church go. It takes 
money to pay the pastor, and the evangelist, and the 
missionary. It takes money to build the house, and 
pay for the pulpit, and the Bible. It takes money 
to supply the Sunday School with books and maps 
and newspapers. It takes money to enlarge the work 
of the Church in any direction so as to extend the 
borders of Zion and save lost souls. If you are a 
true Christian, therefore, you will help pay. Those 
who ignore this part of God's service need the prayers 
of the brotherhood, for they are so stingy and narrow 
that the devil will get them sure if they are not led 
to a speedy reformation. 

Too many church members like to ride on free 
tickets. Ask a pastor, "How many members have 
you.?" 

"About seven hundred," he replies. 

"How many of them are paying members?" 

"Oh, not more than two or three hundred." 

And I guess if you take the pains to look into the 
matter carefully you will find that only about 185 
have any credits after their names on the treasurer's 
books. Where are the 515.? Ah, riding on free 
tickets, or rather dead-heading their way at the ex- 
pense of the faithful few. I want to warn all who 
belong to this sorry class that they will wake up some 
bright morning and find that their tickets ^are can- 
celed. The angel who keeps the Jasper Gate will not 
know them. 

Why should you want to eat with the people of God 
v/hen you do not help bear the burdens of the house- 
hold of faith.^ "He that worketh not shall not eat," 
is the universal rule. Why should you then expect 
to enjoy all the privileges of the church without help- 
ing pay.? A tramp comes to your door and mutters 
a shamefaced request for some br^pad and butter. 



HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 323 

But you have little sympathy and less food for him, 
because when you offer him work he spurns it. Why 
should a Christian expect to feed on the "sure mercies 
of David'' when he spurns the work God so abun- 
dantly offers? To give money is one of the best ways 
in the world to work for Christ. If you have it to 
give, even if only a little, but selfishly keep it back, 
you can not hold out faithful. It is a good rule, the 
faithful observance of which is sure to bring rich 
blessings. Every member of every church ought to 
pay continuously and cheerfully all along life's 
journey. 

Don't be like an old fellow I have heard of out in 
Missouri. You know there are some good old souls 
who don't believe in paying preachers any stated 
salary. They are not very common now; most of 
them have gone to heaven (perhaps;. A few maybe 
seen now and then in museums, or in old, dead 
churches where they keep human curiosities. This 
old man in Missouri used to get up in social meeting 
and say,"I thank the Lord for a free Gospel, brethren. 
I have been a member of this church five and forty 
years and, thank God, it has not cost me but a quar- 
ter. Hallelujah!'' 

An average congregation of 700 members ought to 
pay not less than $10,000 a year to the Lord's Work. 
And yet Iiow few are doing the half of it! God's 
people in this age do not seem to have learned the 
first principles of giving as yet. There are, of course, 
noted exceptions among individuals and among 
churches. But as a rule we are just playing when 
it comes to the great question of Church finance. 

I wish I might impress it deeply upon you, one and 
all, that it is the duty of every member^ old or 
youngs to pay in proportion to his ability. 

"But how may I know just what my ability is in 
God's sight?" inquires one. 



324 HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 

I will tell you. It is a question upon which there 
is a wide-spread indifference and ignorance. And yet, 
with God's Book in hand it is a question easily settled 
if we are only willing to be honest. Moses said to 
the Israelites, "The tithe is the Lord's." I claim 
therefore that no man, woman or child ought to think 
of putting the Lord oft with less than a tenth of his 
entire income. Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek, 
and Melchizedek was a type of Christ. We should 
pay tithes to our Master, the Great High Priest of our 
souls. 

When the Lord gives you ten dollars, pay Him 
back at least one dollar of it. Have a little book 
and keep a strict account with God. When you re- 
ceive on salary $50 or $100, put it down in the in- 
come column. From whatever you receive in the 
way of legitimate income, put aside one tenth for the 
Lord. Then when you pay into the church, or mis- 
sion treasury any money, or when a poor man comes 
to your door that you feel like assisting, take the 
money you wish to give out of the tenth thus set 
aside. When the Lord's column foots up one tenth 
the amount of your income column, but not till then, 
you may be said to have fulfilled your financial 
obligations to the church. 

As a people we may well be proud, for we have 
the invincible plea of the world. We are right on 
faith; we are right on repentance; we are right on 
baptism. In debate we can easily whip the whole 
theological world. But I must say that when it comes 
to the question of giving we fall far short of our duty. 
Several years ago I wrote a forty-seven page pam- 
phlet entitled, "The Lord's Exchequer; or Propor- 
tionate Systematic Paying by the Tithing System.'' 
I rejoice to say that many of our foremost writers 
and workers have recognized the value of this little 



HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 325 

work, A few, of course, oppose its suggestions on 
theoretical grounds, and some, I surmise, because 
they are covetous. But it is an encouraging sign 
when we see earnest Christian workers all over the 
country adopting the practice advocated in my hum- 
ble pages. 

Well, whatever may be thought of the tithing sys- 
tem which I have urged, nobody has yet questioned 
my statistics. And yet I make the startling assertion 
that our people, as a people, pay only one sixtieth of 
their income to all religious and benevolent enter- 
prises appealing to us for support. Certainly we have 
much to learn yet about giving. And while we are 
right doctrinally, let us be careful that we are not 
robbers practically. Now it does not make any differ- 
ence how large your family is, or how sick you may be, 
or how heavy may be the demands upon your purse, 
you should pay one tenth of your income to the Lord. 
It is a solemn debt. When God graciously allows 
you to retain for your own use nine-tenths of every- 
thing, is it asking too much that you should be honest 
and pay Him his rightful interest, if we may call it 
such? You rent a store and you have to pay your 
rent. You own a farm, and you have to pay your 
taxes. You borrow a thousand dollars, and you have 
to pay the interest. Why not be as just with God as 
you are with your fellow men? 

"The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,'' 
says David. Everything we have belongs to God, 
our time, our talent, our money, our land, it is all 
His. We are merely God's stewards, and must give 
a strict account of the manner in which we have used 
His property at the Last Day. 

When the Church shall come to that point where 
it will realize its responsibility; when it shall know 
and feel that to give anything less than the tithe is 



326 HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 

an insult; and when it shall fully understand that to 
pay less is robbery, then and not till then will our 
offerings for the support of the Gospel be commen- 
surate with our glorious opportunities. 

When the Israelites were faithful in paying their 
tithes to Jehovah they were wonderfully prosperous; 
but when they were unfaithful they were unfortunate. 
The Lord said to them, through the prophet Malachi, 
"Ye have robbed me." "Wherein have we robbed 
Thee.'*" said they. "7;? tithes and offerings.'^'' (Mai. 
3:8.) The Jews are the best financiers in the world. 
Why is it.'* Because for thousands of years their 
ancestors observed the tithing law, and it developed 
in their generations a business sagacity such as the 
world had never seen before, and may never see again. 

The tithing system is eminently practical from a 
business standpoint. Its observance fosters careful- 
ness, thrift, and honesty. It prevents waste and 
slothfulness. I don't care how poor you are, you 
can't afford to cheat- the Lord out of His tenth. If 
you have only fifty cents income a day, five cents of 
that belongs to the Lord. Prove yourself a faithful 
steward in little things, and He will not be slow in 
proving His willingness to trust you with larger things. 
I know that since I began to tithe my income faith- 
fully, several years ago, the Lord has blessed me 
greatly. I was in debt and had been nearly all my 
life. It was hard to "make ends meet." But I be- 
gan laying sacredly aside God's tenth, and He lifted 
me out of debt and has given me great blessings be- 
sides — success in His work, joy in my home, and peace 
in my soul. 

The nine-tenths with God's blessing will go farther 
if we give the other tenth to the Lord, because when 
we set aside the tithe we will be more careful in our 
use of the other nine-tenths than we would have 



HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 327 

been had we used it all for ourselves. And this care- 
fulness bears the fruit of prosperity. I don't say that 
the Lord will work any miracles of special providence 
in our behalf. But I do say if we are honest with 
our Heavenly Father, He will be honest with us. So 
if you want to hold out faithful, lay aside sacredly 
one tenth. Some families have a tin box made and 
in this box, which they call the "Lord's Box,*' they 
deposit faithfully from time to time one-tenth of 
whatever income they may have. And then when 
they pay anything for the support of the Gospel, they 
take it out of the Lord's money. They never have 
any trouble in solving the question, "How much.?" 
but only, '^ To wkatV All the money in the tithe-box 
is sacred, and they feel that they have no more right 
to go to that money and take a dollar out for self 
and not return it, than I have to go to your drawer 
and take your money. And when you all make this 
a matter of conscience, as you ought to do to-day, 
you will feel the same way. 

There are many questions asked concerning the 
tithing system, and many objections made, but they 
are all answered in the pamphlet referred to, a copy 
of which any one desiring it may secure by sending 
ten cents with your address to the Columbian Book 
Co., Decatur, 111. When I was preparing this 
treatise, among many others whose sympathy I sought 
to enlist was Sister Persis L. Christian, the distin- 
guished lecturer and writer. But she objected to the 
system, and wrote me suggesting a case something 
like the following: "Suppose one man has an annual 
income of ten thousand dollars, with no sickness and 
only a small family to support; his neighbor has an 
income of a thousand dollars, with a large family to 
support, and much sickness. Is it therefore just that 
the poorer man should be compelled to pay the same 
percentage of his income as the richer man?" 



328 HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 

The objection is easily answered. It is always right 
to be honest — to be "just before generous." The 
tithe is an honest debt. The rich man owes it, and 
pays $1000. The poor man owes it and pays 
$100. Neither is eased and the other burdened 
by this system, for it is fair and equitable in all its 
bearings. But I certainly admit that the rich man, 
under his more favorable circumstances, should give 
more than the tenth; but the poor man should never 
give less. Otherwise he would not deserve pros- 
perity. 

After the pamphlet was out, Mrs. Christian re- 
ceived a copy, read it, and wrote me again, saying, 
"I am systematically tithing my income this year." 
She found it just what was needed, and remarked its 
superiority over the old, hap-hazard way of giving. 

If we could put it on the consciences of the people, 
if we could only make them realize that it is as 
sinful to withhold from the Lord the tenth as it would 
be to go to your friend's drawer and take his money, 
it would be but a question of time when our church 
and mission treasuries would groan with offerings. 
"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse," says the 
Lord, "that there may be meat in mine house, and 
prove me now herewith if I will not open you the 
windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that 
there shall not be room enough to receive it!" (Mai. 
3:10.) If your salary is $70 per month, always lay 
aside $7 of it for the Lord. Then you will always 
have something ready to give when worthy appeals 
come to your door. You will always know how much 
you have to give, and all you will have to worry about 
is where to put it so it will do the most good. 

Read the Bible 

And pray ; 
Go to Church 

And pay. 



HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 329 

Do these things regularly, faithfully, persistently 
all the days of your life, and I can assure you that 
not one of you will fail to hold out faithful. Link all 
these four rules together with an unbreakable chain, 
for one is just as important as another. It will never 
do to leave anything out. Don't say, "I will read the 
Bible, but I will not pray/' Don't say, "I will pay 
something occasionally to help the Church along, but 
I will not attend its services, for I haven't time, and 
then I don't like the preacher very well anyhow." 
Don't say, "I will pray, but I won't pay. I need all 
my money worse than the Church needs it.'' Oh, sel- 
fish man! When Christ gave His all for you. But 
be not deceived; you must learn to pay if you ever 
expect to enter Heaven. 

Christianity is a practical thing, and wonderfully 
comprehensive. It touches us at every angle of life. 
The service of Christ is the greatest service in the 
world. It is sweet, uplifting, satisfying. 

I want to read you Josephine Pollard's little poem 
entitled "Work for the Day." I have carried a copy 
of it in my pocket for years, and never tire of read- 
ing it: — 

**I have work enough to do 

Ere the sun goes down, 
For myself and kindred too, 

Ere the sun goes down ; 
Every idle whisper stilling, 
With a purpose firm and willing. 
All my daily task fulfilling, 

Ere the sun goes down. 

' 'I must speak the loving word, 

Ere the sun goes down; 
I must let my voice be heard, 

Ere the sun goes down. 
Every cry of pity heeding, 
For the injured interceding, 
To the light the lost one leading, 

Ere the sun goes down. 



330 HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 

•*As I journey on my way, 

Ere the sun goes down^ 
God's commands I must obey, 

Ere the sun goes down. 
There are sins that need confessing, 
There are wrongs that need redressing, 
If I would obtain the blessing, 

Ere the sun goes down." 

May these sentiments take hold upon your hearts 
this morning. Resolve that you will never let the sun 
go down on a day that is not spent earnestly in 
Christ's service. When you lie down to rest at the 
close of each day, may it be with the assurance that 
if Jesus calls for your soul before morning, he will 
say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter 
into thy joy.'' Remember Paul's example in Phil. 
3:14: "I press towards the mark for the prize of the 
high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Remember also 
his urgent appeal in Rom. 12:1: "I beseech you there- 
fore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present 
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto 
God, which is your reasonable service."' 

Young men, young women, boys and girls, remem- 
ber that "life is real, life is earnest," and you ought 
not to spend your days carelessly. Many of you 
have consecrated your lives to Jesus. Now strive to 
hold out faithftil. Strive to end7ire to the end. 
There is no promise to him that falleth by the way. 
So let every hour of life be well spent. Be in ear- 
nest. Oh, for more earnestness in the work of Jesus; 
for more whole-hearted, unfeigned, transparent de- 
votedness! Earnestness covers a multitude of faults. 
Introduce the earnestness, the ambition and the hope- 
fulness of this busy, rushing, nineteenth-century life 
into your work for Christ, and He will crown you with 
an abundance of blessings here and with an unfading 
crown hereafter. 

The toils of this life will soon be over. The jour- 



HOW TO HOLD OUT FAITHFUL 33I 

ney from the cradle to the grave is a short one at 
best. In a few score years every one that lives to- 
day will have passed away, and "the place that 
knows us now will know us no more/* We must all 
cross over the dark river and give an account for the 
deeds done in the body. 

I long to meet all there who have come forward 
during this series of meetings. I want to see you 
who sit about me this holy, happy morning all there 
with smiles upon your faces, with crowns upon your 
heads,and palms of victory in your hands. I want to 
join with you Over There in the "Song of Jesus and 
the Lamb." 

And you will all be there if you will only hold out 
faithfuL There is no doubt, no uncertainty about it 
at all 

In five years from now, if I meet your devoted 
pastor somewhere and ask him, "How are the young 
men and the maidens, the boys and the girls, and the 
heads of families, that came to Christ during our 
meetings.? Are they walking worthy of the vocation 
wherewith they are called.?" I trust he will be able 
to say, "So far as I know, every one has held out 
faithfuL" I trust he will be able to say, "I don*t 
know of a single one that has gone backto the world. 
Some are now preaching the Gospel, and many of 
the number are now among our very best members." 

Do these four things in the spirit of the Lord Jesus, 
and not one of you will ever fail in the Christian life. 
Do these four things, as every follower of Christ 
ought to do them, and you will be saved every hour 
and day that you live, and rewarded at last with "the 
crown that fadeth not away." God grant that it may 
be so, not only with those who sit before me in this 
large auditorium to-day, but with all the redeemed 
everywhere throughout the world! 



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